ON 

THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  AN  EARLY  CORRECT 

EDUCATION  OF  CHILDREN: 

EMBRACING   THE    MUTfAL    OBLIGATIONS  AND    DUTIES    Of 

PARENT    AND    CHILD; 

ALSO    THE    <iUAHFICATI0N9    AND 

DISCIPLINE  OF  TEACHERS, 

U)itl)  tijcir  Ofmolumcnt, 

AND     A     PLAN      SUGGESTED     WHEREBY      ALL       OUR     COMMO^f      SCHOOLS      CAN 

ADVANTAGEOUSLY     BE    MADE     FREE;     THE     WHOr.E     INTERSPERSED 

WITH     SEVERAL    AMUSING,    CHASTE    ANECDOTES    GROWING 

OUT  OF    THE    DOMESTIC  AND  SCHOLASTIC   CIRCLE. 


TO      WHICH      IS    SUBJOINED      BY     WAY     OP 

AN    APPENDIX, 

THE  ji 

^Declaration  of  Suiepmliciuc 

BY    THE 

THIRTEEN   NORTH   AMERICAN   COLONIES, 

4th  July,  1776. 


CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES, 

WITH    THAT    OF    THE 

STATE   OF   NEW  YORK, 

AS    LATELY    ADOPTED. 


DR.  WILLIAM /EUEN, 

OF    SHAWANGUNK.    ULSTER    COUNTY. 


NEW     YORK: 
PUBLISHED    FOR   THE    AUTHOR, 

1848. 

Price  Sixty-nine  Cents, 


Entered  according  to  Act  of"Congresg,  in  the  year  184S, 

BY   WILLIAM   EUEN,  M.D., 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern 

District  of  New  York. 


i  LC37 


^  PREFACE 


E  g^  -^ 


The  author,  in  giving  publicity  to  the  following  pages,  assures  his 
readers  that  nothing  would  have  afforded  him  greater  pleasure  than  to 
have  had  his  ideas  dressed  and  carried  out,  on  the  early  and  proper 
training  of  a  child,  by  some  one  more  intellectually  endowed  than  him- 
self, and  one  too  enjoying  sound  health  and  natural  vision,  which 
latter  blessing  he  has  not  possessed  during  the  labor  of  composing  and 
compiling  the  subject  of  present  intrusion. 

Subscribers  for  this  little  work  were,  before  its  publication,  made  fully 

acquainted,  by  tlie  Prospectus,  of  the  author's  sore  affliction  through 

total  blindness,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  assistance  by  a  proxy, 

which  has  been  performed,  so  far  as  the  mechanical  part  of  the  manu- 

,^  script  is  concerned,  by  a  son  between  thirteen  and  fourteen  years  of  age. 

^      And  in  addition  to  nearly  five' years'  bereavement  of  sight,  such  has 

{  been  the  impaired  state  of  his  general  health,  as  to  keep  him  for  many 

>6  months  confined  to  his  bed,  and  no   hopes  entertained  by  the  most 

"^  eminent  oculists  as  to  a  future  restoration  of  sight.     Reduced  in  pecu- 

«Y  niary  circumstances  to  the  lowest  ebb,  one  of  two  alternatives  appeared 

^only  left  for  him  to  adopt,  either  directly  to  apply  for  public  charity, 

^  or,  by  an  amanuensis,  so  bring  in  requi.^ition  his  humble  mental  powers, 

I '   as  would  produce  a  work  on  some  subject  which  might  serve  at  least 

I    as  an  apology  for  a  few  cents  at  the  hands  of  an  indulgent  and 

^M  charitable  public. 

■^  The  latter  course  proving  more  congenial  to  his  feelings,  and  trust- 
L*  ing  in  some  measure  to  an  experience  of  over  fifty-two  years,  during 
which  time  he  acted  three  years  as  principal  in  two  of  our  common 
schools,  and  afterwards  one  year  in  an  academy  under  higher  regula- 
tions, in  connexion  with  rearing  and  educating  eight  children  of  his 
own,  he  has  been  induced  to  select  the  subject  as  named  in  the  title- 


ly  PREFACE. 

;: 
page  of  his  present  work.  Conscious  at  the  same  time  of  not  only 
unavoidable  desultoriness,  growing  out  of  afflictions  already  named, 
but  also  mental  inability  to  do  that  justice  which  the  importance  of  the 
subject  demands ;  and  should  he  fail  to  meet  the  expectations  of  his 
readers,  or  in  judgment  hold  contrary  views  with  them,  he  trusts  he  may 
at  least  lead  to  correct  suggestions  ou  the  part  of  others,  which,  in  no 
Bmall  degree,  will  remunerate  him  for  both  time  and  trouble. 

Respectfully,  &c., 

^VILLIARI  EUEN. 

P.  S.  The  author  assures  his  numerous  readers,  that  for  their 
already  extended  liberality  as  subscribers,  language  is  inadequate  to 
express  his  gratitude  for  the  same.  W.  E, 


PARENTS  AND  CHILDREN, 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  assembling  and  organizing  ourselves  into  societies 
for  the  purpose  of  devising  ways  and  means  whereby 
spiritual  bread  may  be  scattered  over  lands  now  shrouded 
in  heathenish  darkness,  ignorance,  and  superstition ;  and 
the  dispensation  of  alms  to  to  the  poor  and  needy  of 
our  own  land,  are  among  the  highest  acknowledged  privi- 
leges of  a  Christian  community,  yet  the  proverb  (though 
old)  is  not  less  trite  which  says,  "  Charity  commences  at 
home;"  and  authority  as  high  as  Heaven  itself  declares 
that  he  who  does  not  provide  for  his  own  household  has 
denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel. 

A  declaration  so  pregnant  with  admonition,  and  direct 
from  the  archives  of  Heaven,  would  naturally  seem  to 
lead  a  reflecting  parent  or  guardian  to  inquire  what  pro- 
visions are  intended  whereby  an  elevation  can  be  secured 
above  that  of  the  rank  of  an  infidel.  Does  it  mean  the 
mere  providing  of  a  shelter  and  raiment  to  protect  our 
children  from  cold  and  pelting  storms,  or  wholesome  food 
to  nourish  and  sustain  their  physical  powers  1  If  so,  then 
indeed  man  stands  no  higher  in  his  boasted  scale  of  crea- 
tion than  the  brute,  which  does  the  same  for  its  offspring 
through  channels  of  instinct.  And  while  I  am  ready  to 
admit  chat  all  these  corporeal  provisions  are  required  at 
the  hands  of  the  parent  or  guardian,  still  I  believe  some- 
thing higher  and  nobler  is  embraced.  The  culture  of  the 
mind,  the  power  and  seat  of  thought — the  soul  of  man, 
a  spark  of  God  himself,  who,  Avonderfully  condescending 
to  dwell  in  man,  as  a  diamond  in  the  quarry,  commands 
him  to  drng  forth  and  improve  this  hidden  intellectual  trea- 
sure, with  the  same  imperativeness  and  clearness  as  he 
does  the  cultivation  of  the  earth  at  the  hands  of  the  hus- 
bandmen. 


6  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREIC. 

In  the  first  place,  education  is  a  very  comprehensive 
term.  It  includes  the  whole  course  of  Physical^  Moral, 
Religious  and  Scientific  instruction  and  discipline. 

Its  power  is  exerted  on  the  body  as  well  as  the  mind ; 
in  other  words,  the  whole  individual  must  be  trained,  in 
order  that  every  part  may  be  duly  benefited  and  every 
faculty  of  mind  and  body  fully  developed. 

Physical  education  consists  in  that  system  of  corporeal 
discipline  by  which  the  powers  of  the  body  are  brought 
to  perfection,  and  its  faculties  fully  exhibited,  and  by 
which  we  acquire  vigor  and  health,  with  a  constitution 
suited  to  active  business  of  life.  This  is  best  encouraged 
by  the  study  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  or  those  laws 
which  treat  of  the  structure  and  functions  which  charac- 
terize living  beings. 

These  principles  are  best  promoted,  particularly  in  early 
life,  by  a  proper  system  of  diet,  a  free  indulgence  in  the 
unrestrained  sports  and  innocent  amusements  of  child- 
hood, thereby  establishing  in  the  constitution,  as  a  solid 
and  permanent  foundation,  those  immutable  principles  of 
Temperance  and  Truth  on  which  we  may  with  safety  build 
our  hopes  of  future  happiness  and  health  ;  bidding  defi- 
ance, while  earthly  existence  shall  last,  to  those  storms 
and  tempests  which  so  frequently  arise  on  the  ocean  of 
life,  and  by  which  so  many  of  the  thoughtless  and  igno- 
rant are  doomed  to  perish.  And  although  I  intend  to  re- 
serve for  following  pages  many  of  the  duties  of  parents 
and  guardians,  still  I  deem  it  proper  here  to  say,  that 
youth  is  the  fit  time  to  encourage  exercise  and  tempe- 
rance. 

The  constitution  is  much  injured  by  improper  restraint 
in  the  healthful  and  cheerful  exercise  of  the  limbs  in  the 
open  air,  at  this  stage  of  life.  All  nature  teache^  us  that 
a  large  portion  of  the  time  of  youth  should  be  sacredly 
set  apart,  in  the  ways  and  manners  already  here  suggest- 
ed, for^he  more  effectual  purpose  of  giving  elasticity  and 
buoyancy  to  the  muscular  system,  to  strengthen  and  coh- 
solidate  the  body,  that  the  mind,  as  the  individual  approxi- 
mates to  manhood,  may  assume  that  tone  and  dignity  of 
character,  together  with  amiableness  of  disposition,  as 
will  enable  him  or  her  to  enter  upon  their  respective  du- 
ties in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  Being  who  created  them, 


PARENTS   AND   CHILDREN.  7 

and  the  high  station  which  they  occupy  in  the  immensity 
of  his  works. 

Moral  education  must  also  be  commenced  very  early 
in  life.  That  system  of  instruction  and  discipline  which 
gives  us  a  sensitive  knowledge  of  the  distinction  between 
right  and  wrong,  which  erects  in  the  mind  a  sacred  regard 
for  the  immutable  principles  of  Truth,  Justice,  and  Moral 
Integrity,  and  which  erects  in  the  soul  a  strong  fortifica- 
tion against  irregular  and  vicious  habits,  can  never  be 
successfully  commenced  if  the  individual  is  old  enough  to 
be  brought  under  the  influence  of  our  higher  seminaries. 

The  foundation  of  the  moral  character  must  be  laid 
under  the  inspection  of  the  watchful  parent.  The  affection- 
ate yet  keen  eye  of  the  mother  must  detect  in  the  cradle 
what  needs  restraint,  and  discover  the  various  develop- 
ments of  the  disposition  ;  and  it  is  at  this  stage  of  life  that 
she  is  to  adopt  such  measures,  and  by  mature  deliberation 
lay  down  such  a  system  of  rules  and  regulations  to  guide 
her  in  training  her  offspring,  as  will  have  a  tendency  to 
check  the  first  dawnings  of  evil,  and  give  a  proper  direc- 
tion to  the  early  buddings  of  iheir  young  and  tender 
minds.  And  this  system  should  be  constantly  and  rigidly 
adhered  to,  as  you  value  their  well  being  in  lime  and  in 
eternity. 

Do  not  suffer  yourselves  to  be  turned  aside  from  the 
path  of  duty  by  the  false  notion  that  the  natural  affection 
existing  between  parent  and  child  forbids  such  a  system 
of  training  and  discipline. 

None  but  the  ignorant  and  foolish  can  subscribe  to  such 
doctrines  ;  and  speaking  of  discipline,  I  wish  to  be  under- 
stood as  including  subordination,  wathout  which  order 
(heaven's  first  law)  can  never  be  maintained,  so  as  to 
properly  unite  the  many  and  varied  links  that  form  the 
great  chain  of  a  useful  and  virtuous  education,  and  ad- 
mitted by  the  wisest  of  all  ages  as  constituting  and  form- 
irg  within  the  man  a  second  nature,  from  the  fact  that 
mind  is  intimately  connected  with  matter,  and  susceptible 
of  being  shaped,  formed,  or  moulded  almost  in  the  same 
manner  as  a  potter  controls  his  lump  of  clay. 

A  celebrated  physiologist,  in  speaking  of  early  impres- 
sions upon  the  mind  of  the  child,  declares  that  those  re- 
ceived when  only  three  years  old  are  the  most  permanent 


8  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

and  lasting,  and  for  each  of  which,  indentations  or  visible 
lines,  are  discoverable  on  the  inside  of  the  cranium.  • 

That  certain  fissures  or  furrows  are  discernible  on 
the  human  skull,  as  just  named,  is  an  undeniable  fact ;  but 
whether  we  are  prepared  or  not  to  subscribe  to  this  doc- 
trine, as  based  on  sound  physiological  principles,  one  fact 
is  certain,  that  impressions  early  made  upon  the  mind  are 
never  erased  or  obliterated  in  after  life,  where  nature  has 
been  left  free  and  undisturbed  in  all  her  physical  and  men- 
tal functions. 

It  is  true  affection  that  first  prompts  us  to  teach  our 
little  ones  obedience,  to  watch  over  them  with  care 
and  anxiety,  and  as  far  as  we  can  prevent  the  sowing  in 
their  minds  those  seeds,  the  future  growth  of  which  may 
sap  the  foundation  of  their  happiness  not  only  in  this  life 
but  that  which  is  to  come. 

The  wise  man  said,  "  Correct  thy  son  and  he  will  give 
rest  to  thy  soul ;"  it  should  also  be  remembered,  that 
"whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chastenetli,"  "scourgeth  every 
son  whom  he  receiveth,"  and  if  this  work  is  effectually 
accomplished,  w-e  cannot  commence  too  soon  to  correct 
the  evil  propensities  which  begin  to  develope  themselves 
in  infancy,  and  implant  in  their  place  those  principles 
which  when  once  rooted,  will  abide  with  them  through 
life. 

And  if  there  is  anything  which  the  philanthropist  should 
most  ardently  desire  and  devoutly  pray  for,  that  is  so 
closely  connected  with  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  his 
beloved  country  it  is  this  ;  that  the  time  may  soon  arrive 
when  the  eyes  of  all  parents  shall  be  opened  to  see  the 
importance  of  this  subject,  and  seeing,  may  feel  it  their 
duty  to  commence  and  train  up  their  children  in  the  way 
they  should  go.  Then  shall  we  have  taken  one  important 
step  towards  banishing  from  our  land  that  fiend  Jngrati- 
tude,  which  is  more  hideous,  when  it  shows  itself  in  a  child, 
than  the  sea  monster. 

With  regard  to  religious  instructions,  it  may  perhaps  be 
thought  superfluous  by  some  for  me  here  to  enter  into  an 
exposition  of  my  views  on  this  subject,  as  there  arc  so 
many  religious  sects,  all  differing  from  one  another  in  their 
opinion  in  regard  to  religious  instructions  and  training, 
especially  as  the  remarks  which  I  have  already  made  on 
this  subject  of  moral  education  were  intended  as  a  general 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 


introduction  to  this  subject.  Suffice  it  to  say,  however,  that 
in  this  work  all  sectarian  feeling  suould  be  laid  aside,  and 
take  the  Bible  for  the  man  of  our  council,  not  forgetting 
the  words  of  its  holy  author,  to  "  follow  charity" — that  is, 
to  arm  yourself  with  that  "  love  which  thinketh  no  evil — 
that  is  not  puffed  up,  that  suffereth  all  things,"  that  "  love 
which  never  faileth  ;"  then  shall  we  be  prepared  by  fear- 
ing God  and  keeping  his  commandments  to  instruct  those 
committed  to  our  care  in  the  ways  of  religion  and  virtue. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Solomon,  Israel's  third  king,  has  by  way  of  pre-emi- 
nence been  styled  the  wise  man,  and  we  may  evidently 
trace  his  wisdom  as  the  result  of  an  answer  to  an  honest 
and  faithful  prayer  to  God,  in  which  he  seemed  to  have  a 
clear  and  distinct  view  as  to  the  difference  between  wis- 
dom and  knowledge. 

Among  many  of  the  various  sayings  of  this  great  man, 
found  on  the  sacred  page  of  history,  he  says,  "  Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will 
not  depart  from  it."  Infidels  and  sceptics  have  taken  oc- 
casion to  seize  hold  on  this  divine  truth  as  one  of  their 
grounds  whereupon  to  discredit  the  holy  Bible,  "  for  (say 
they),  we  see  children  who  have  been  trained  up  under 
the  most  rigid  discipline  of  parents,  whose  walk  and  con- 
versation were  in  strict  accordance  with  all  the  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  true  church  militant,  turn  out  the  big- 
gest devils  on  earth." 

For  argument's  sake,  admit  the  position  or  charge,  still 
it  does  not  even  cast  a  shade  of  untruth  on  Solomon's  as- 
sertion, which  like  many  other  passages  of  sacred  scrip- 
ture, is  given  us  to  be  understood  in  a  qualified  sense,  and 
evidently  intended  to  convey  the  fact,  that  children  pro- 
perly trained  would  be  more  likely  to  grow  up  correctly, 
and  afterwards  practise  such  habits  as  would  not  only 
make  them  pleasing  to  their  Creator — an  honor  to  their 
1* 


10  PARENTS   AND    CHILDREN. 

earthly  parents,  but  shining  lights  of  usefulness  to  their 
fellow  men. 

In  declaring  that  the  page  of  holy  tvrit  often  requires 
certain  qualifications,  I  trust  not  to  be  \inclerstood  as  en- 
deavoring to  enter  a  wedge  whereby  its  validity  can  in 
any  instance  be  impaired,  but  merely  intend  to  say,  that 
while  we  take  the  letter,^ the  spirit  also  is  to  be  carefully 
sought  for,  which  not  unfrequently  speaks  to  us  in  alle- 
gories or  figurative  language,  and  when  the  subject  is  be- 
yond our  finite  grasp  it  would  be  far  better  to  seek  divine 
aid  by  faithful  prayer,  than  even  to  intimate  a  discrepancy 
in  any  part  of  God's  W,ord. 

In  order  to  show  the  value  of  this  advice  in  guarding 
against  the  poisoning  seeds  of  scepticism,  and  to  prove 
how  much  better  it  would  be  at  all  times  to  distrust  our 
own  judgment  than  that  of  God,  where  an  apparent  am- 
biguity appears,  I  beg  leave  to  mention  a  diflSculty  which 
occurred  to  me  when  a  child  about  twelve  years  old. 

Reading  Moses's  account  of  the  purchase  of  a  piece  of 
land  by  Jacob,  from  the  children  of  Hamor,  recorded  33d 
chapter  of  Genesis,  19th  verse,  he  says,  one  hundred  pieces 
of  money  were  paid  for  the  land. 

The  evangelist  Luke,  whom  theologians  generally  ad- 
mit to  be  the  writer  of  the  acts  of  the  Apostles,  states  in 
the  7th  chapter  and  16th  verse,  with  direct  reference  to 
Moses's  account,  that  the  purchase  was  made  from  the 
sons  of  Emmor,  and  the  marginal  note  of  the  large  editions 
states  that  a  hundred  lambs  were  given. 

On  this  hobby  infidels  and  sceptics  have  mounted,  full 
booted  and  spurred,  declaring'that,  "  although  it  does  not 
alter  or  change  the  statement  as  to  the  land,  still  the  per- 
sons from  wliom  the  purchase  was  made,  and  the  mode  of 
payment,  has  a  lie  stamped  upon  its  face." 

I  confess,  on  first  reading  these  two  statements,  that  my 
infant  capacity  was  unal)lc  to  reconcile  these  apparently 
contradictory  accounts  ;  and,  applying  to  my  aged  sire,  he 
too  confessed  his  inability  to  give  any  other  satisfaction 
than  to  say,  "  My  son,  God's  word  is  true  ;  and  whenever 
yon  find  a  passage  handed  down  from  him  to  man  which 
you  cannot  understand  yourself,  either  receive  information 
from  other  finite  minds  of  riper  years,  or  by  way  of  answer 
to  an  honest  and  faithful  prayer  to  the  Author  from  whom 
it  emanated,  '  Learn  to  trust,'  even  if  you  have  to  wait 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  ll 

until  that  day  when  all  the  mysteries  of  His  providence 
shall  fully  be  revealed  before  assembled  worlds  ;"  and 
continued  to  say  there  was  "  no  more  contradiction  in  the 
person,  Hamor  and  Emmor,  from  whom  the  land  was  pur- 
chased, than  there  is  between  Isaiah  and  Esais,  which,  in 
the  original  Hebrew,  is  always  understood  to  be  synony- 
mous, or  meaning  one  and  ^le  same  person."  Admitting, 
as  to  the  mode  of  payment,  that  he  was  unable  to  reconcile 
it  in  any  other  way  than  on  credit^  even  in  his  own  matured 
age;  which  is  first  stated  by  Moses,  on  the  marginal  notes 
of  some  of  the  large  editions  of  the  Bible,  to  have  been  in 
lambs ;  and  the  second  in  Luke,  who  invariably  states 
money.  Thirty-six  years  after  this  advice,  and  twenty- 
eight  subsequent  to  the  decease  of  this  father,  I  had  the 
pleasure  to  hear  a  lecture,  from  John  P.  Durbin,  D.  D., 
(then  President  of  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,  Pa.),  before 
the  Wilbur  Fisk  Society,  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  Harmony 
and  Concord  of  the  Holy  Scripture. 

The  learned  gentleman  opened  his  lecture  by  exhibiting 
several  large  drawings,  or  paintings,  on  canvas,  with  a 
view  to  show  the  order  of  creation.  First,  the  earth,  in  a 
state  of  chaos,  or  confusion  ;  next,  the  separations, — water 
from  the  dry  land,  the  former  confined  to  its  depths,  and 
the  latter  diversified  into  mountains,  hills,  and  vales; 
thirdly,  vegetation ;  next,  animal  creation ;  and,  lastly, 
man. 

During  the  course  of  the  reverend  gentleman's  lecture 
three  copper  coins,  or  pieces  of  money,  were  introduced, 
stating,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  was  third  in  hand  since 
their  discovery,  eighteen  months  previous,  by  a  gentleman 
of  unquestionable  veracity,  who  stated  he  had  obtained 
them  in  a  subterranean  passage  of  Persia,  several  feet  below 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  coins  varied  in  size,  and 
were  found,  with  many  others,  in  three  different  strata,  or 
layers  of  mason-work,  evidently  placed  there  by  design. 

On  one  side  of  these  coins  was  the  figure  of  a  Phoe- 
nician lady,  and  on  the  other  that  of  a  lamb  ;  clearly 
proving  that  in  those  days  that  Moses  wrote  there  was  a 
copper  currency  called  lambs  ;  and,  therefore,  perfectly 
harmonizing  with  the  evangelist's  account  as  to  certain 
pieces  of  money  having  been  paid  by  Jacob  fffr  a  parcel  of 
land,  as  before  stated,  where,  afterwards,  his  remains  were 
interred. 


12  PARENTS   AND    CHILDREN. 

To  show  the  reasonableness  of  this  conclusion,  in  assert- 
ing that  there  were  in  the  days  of  Moses  pieces  of  money 
styled  lambs,  we  have  but  to  come  to  modern  phraseology. 

Suppose  an  English  gentleman  is  asked  what  he  gave 
for  his  coach  and  horses,  and  replies,  "  tvi'o  hundred  and 
fifty  sovereigns;"  would  anyone  suppose  he  meant  two 
hundred  and  fifty  Queen  Victcfrias  ?  for  she  is  a  sovereign. 
Unquestionably  not ;  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  pieces  of 
gold  coin,  nearly  five  dollars  in  the  United  States  currency. 

Again,  an  American  is  asked  what  he  gave  for  his  coach 
and  horses,  and  answers,  one  hundred  eagles ;  would  any 
one  suppose  he  meant  birds  ?  for  an  eagle  is  a  bird.  Cer- 
tainly not ;  but  one  hundred  of  the  largest  American  gold 
coins,  Vv-prtli  ten  dollars  each.  And  sliould  a  Frencliman 
state  so  many  Napoleons,  he  certainly  does  not  mean  so 
many  Bonapartes,  but  a  French  coin  called  a  Napoleon.  I 
have  thus  far  extended  my  remarks  growing  out  of  Moses's 
and  the  Evangelist's  account  in  reference  to  Jacob's  land 
purchase,  in  order  to  show  the  danger  in  hastily  deciding, 
upon  any  subject,  particularly  those  points  arising  out  of 
our  holy  religion  of  whicli  we  are  not  sufficiently  enlight- 
ened or  capable  of  understanding.  Proverbs,  16th  chapter, 
10th  verse,  declares :  "A  divine  sentence  is  in  the  lips  of 
a  king,  his  mouth  transgresseth  not  in  judgment."  Thomas 
Hewis,  LL.D.  and  M.D.,  Rector  of  Aldwinkle,  Northamp- 
tonshire (England),  thus  defines  the  sacred  passage  just 
quoted  :  "  This  is  only  literally  true  of  the  King  of  kings, 
the  divine  Messiah,  but  it  speaks  what  should  be  the  con- 
duct of  every  ruler." 

"  A  divine  sentence  or  divination  should  l)e  in  their  lips, 
their  wisdom  should  be  oracular,  and  their  decisions  never 
influenced  by  passion  or  favor,  but  guided  by  the  rule  of 
unerring  truth  of  God."  Hence  Solomon  was  directed  by 
more  than  human  wisdom  when  he  decided  between  the 
two  women,  each  declaring  to  be  the  mother  of  a  child 
brought  before  him.  Holding  the  Bible  as  the  only  un- 
erring rule  or  standard  whereupon  a  correct  education  of 
a  child  can  be  based,  it  therefore  behoves  parents,  guar- 
dians, or  instructors,  to  early  teach  out  of  that  book  to  dis- 
criminate as  far  as  possible  between  the  letter  and  the  spirit, 
with  a  reconciliation  of  those  passages  which  apparently 
(yet  do  not)  clash  or  contradict  each  other,  else  fatal  or 
erroneous  ideas  may  i)e  imbibed.  And  in  order  more  faith- 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  13 

fully  to  discharge  this  all-important  duty,  they  should,  in 
connexion  with  honest  prayer  to  God,  as  already  herein 
suggested,  seek  the  works  of  men  whose  writings  are  not 
only  proverbially  acknowledged  for  evangelical  piety,  but 
learned  theologians,  whose  trade  or  pursuit  in  life  better 
qualifies  them,  than  those  whose  occupation  is  more  ab- 
struse or  of  a  different  kind. 

In  addition  to  the  two  passages  already  given  as  found 
in  the  word  of  God,  requiring  certain  qualification,  I  beg 
leave  to  cite  a  few  others  which  are  similarly  to  be  under- 
stood or  comprehended. 

God  is  said  to  be  every  day  angry  with  the  wicked,  and 
then  again  it  is  declared  that  anger  only  rests  in  the  bosoms 
of  fools. 

Here  the  child  is  to  be  so  taught  the  difference  between 
the  anger  of  man  and  the  displeasure  of  a  holy,  just,  and. 
upright  being,  whose  very  characttr  forbids  the  looking  on 
sin  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  abhorrence  and  disgust. 
As  we  are  faithfully  to  endeavor  to  correct  the  inordinate 
passions  in  the  human  breast;  still,  the  child  is  to  be  so 
taught  as  to  hate  sin  with  a  perfect  hatred  on  account  of  its 
sinfulness  ;  at  the  same  time  pity,  kindly  feel,  and  extend 
advice  as  far  as  possible  to  the  victim,  from  whom  it  ema- 
nated through  diabolical  influence. 


-    CHAPTER  HI. 

The  government  of  the  tongue  and  the  keeping  under 
proper  subjection  all  the  human  passions  are  declared  to 
be  superior  to  the. cool  acts  of  a  general  in  commanding 
an  army,  and  he  who  indulges  in  improper  passions  sus- 
tains (aside  from  an  offence  against  the  deity)  other  seri- 
ous losses — he  dethrones  a  god-like  mind  by  inviting  a 
demon  to  usurp  its  place,  and  thereby  renders  i^him  in- 
competent to  display  those  powers  which  his  Creator 
otherwise  intended,  besides  giving  his  adversary  an  ad- 
vantage over  him. 

This  latter  position  reminds  me  of  an  eminent  lawyer 
of  New  Jersey,  who  some  years  since  was  attacked  with 


14  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

a  paroxysm  of  apoplexy,  which  soon  yielded  to  proper 
medical  treatment,  and  was  afterwards  assured  by  his  phy- 
sician that  unless  he  strictly  guarded  against  sudden  ebul- 
litions of  immoderate  anger,  the  construction  of  his  neck, 
chest,  and  thorax,  with  general  temperament,  was  such  as 
to  leave  but  little  doubt  it  would  cost  him  his  life. 

About  six  weeks  after  this  advice  the  lawyer  had  occa- 
sion to  issue  a  writ,  in  order  to  recover  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  on  a  promissory  note  left  in  his  hands  for  col- 
lection ;  on  the  return  term  of  the  process  the  defendant 
desired  to  speak  to  the  lawyer  at  the  bar  while  the  Court 
was  in  session,  which  request  he  granted  by  stepping  to  a 
remote  corner  of  the  court  room,  when  the  former  accost- 
ed the  latter  with  abusive  language  merely  for  a  faithful 
discharge  of  his  official  duties. 

The  lawyer,  regardless  of  his  physician's  advice,  and 
in  opposition  to  his  own  better  judgment  when  in  a  calm 
state  of  mind,  suflered  his  anger  to  rise  in  such  a  degree 
as  to  fall  senseless  on  the  floor,  and  in  less  than  ten  mi- 
nutes ceased  further  to  breathe  on  the  shores  of  time. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  first  developments  in  the 
mind  of  a  child  require  the  watchful  eye  of  the  mother, 
at  the  same  time  do  not  dismiss  the  co-working  of  the 
father,  and  among  many  of  the  valualde  counsels  given 
by  Judge  Hale  (England's  proud  jurist,  Christian,  and 
philanthropist),  he  holds  the  following  advice  in  relation 
to  anger  : 

"  When  a  person  is  accused,  or  reported  to  have  injured 
you,  before  you  give  yourself  leave  to  be  angry,  think 
with  yourself,  w^hy  should  I  be  angry  before  I  am  certain 
it  is  true,  or,  if  it  be  true,  how  can  I  tell  how  much  I 
should  be  angr}^  until  I  know  the  whole  cause? 

"  Though  it  may  be  he  hath  done  me  wrong,  yet,  pos- 
sibly, it  is  misrepresented,  or  It  was  done  by  mistake,  or 
it  may  be,  he  is  sorry  for  it. 

"  I  will  not  be  angry  until  I  know  the  cause,  and  if  there 
be  cause,  yet  I  will  not  be  angry  until  I  know  the  whole 
cause,  for  till  then,  if  I  must  be  angry  at  all,  yet  I  know 
not  how  much  to  be  angry.  It  may  be  it  is  not  worth  my 
anger,  or  if  it  be,  it  deserves  but  little. 

"  This  will  keep  your  mind  carried  upon  such  occa- 
sions in  a  due  temper  and  order,  and  will  disappoint  ma- 
licious and  officious  tale-bearers.'' 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  15 

A  poet  has  said,  "Childhood,  happiest  stage  of  life, 
free  from  care  and  free  from  strife."  This,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  is  true;  yet  children,  even  two  or  three  years 
old,  have  their  troubles  and  trials  ;  and  in  their  innocent 
sports  not  unfrequenlly  evince  vehement  and  angry  pas- 
sions, which  instead  of  being  corrected  by  their  parents 
are  made  the  subject  of  laughter. 

Habit,  though  slow,  strengthens  with  age,  and  when 
children  manifest  anger  towards  one  another  the  heinous- 
ness  of  their  offence  should  be  pointed  out  as  considered  by 
their  Creator,  who  had  endowed  them  with  a  mind  capa- 
ble of  understanding,  to  a  certain  extent  (even  in  early 
life) ,  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  and  how 
worthy  of  imitation  are  the  little  unfledged  birds,  who 
never  quarrel  in  their  nests. 

The  growth  of  all  improper  disposition  in  a  child  is  no 
doubt  often  the  offspring  of  a  mistaken  judgment  on  the 
part  of  the  mother,  who  frequently  declares  her  child  too 
young  to  understand  correction  and  thereby  withholds 
it  even  in  a  degtee ;  whereas  a  child  only  able  to  sit 
alone  who  will  throw  itself  back,  rolling  and  tumbling  on 
the  floor,  should  be  gently  raised  by  the  rod.  And  if 
such  passions  in  children  are  neglected,  they  will  at  last 
become  incorrigible,  and  bring  down  the  grey  hairs  of  their 
parents  with  sorrow  to  the  grave ;  while  the  thus  uncon- 
trolled offspring,  advanced  to  maturity,  is  either  an  inmate 
of  some  prison  cell,  or  solitary  dungeon,  or  else  at  large 
in  society,  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  midnight  assassin, 
being  incapable  of  self  government,  or  exercising  the  phi- 
losophy of  a  Socrates,  who  on  a  certain  occasion  said  to 
his  servant,  "  I  would  beat  thee  if  I  was  not  angry." 

But  intending  in  subsequent  pages  of  this  little  work  to 
further  treat  on  the  "  Infant  Nursery,"  I,  at  present,  for- 
bear, and  return  to  redeem  my  pledge,  to  instance  one  or 
two  more  of  the  many  passages  found  in  the  Bible  which 
require  early  explanations  so  as  to  enable  a  child  to  un- 
derstand and  rightly  receive  tjie  spirit,  where  apparently 
the  letter  presents  a  contrary  view  on  the  subject ;  which 
I  do  in  part  by  reciting  the  following  dialogue  said  to 
have  taken  place  between  a  little  girl  named  Mary,  and 
her  mother,  after  the  former  had  finished  reading  the  22d 
chapter  of  Matthew. 

Mary. — "  Mother  have  you  not  told  me  that  which 


16  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

Christ  enjoined  as  a  duty  to  be  performed  by  the  Jews 
was  equally  obligatory  on  us  ?" 

Mother. — "  Yes,  my  child,  that  which  required  the  per- 
formance of  the  moral  law  by  the  Jews  is  equally  obli- 
g'atory  on  us  Gentiles." 

Mary. — "  Well,  mother,  have  you  not  also  told  me  that 
I  should  love  you,  father,  brothers,  sisters,  and  all  other 
fellow  creatures  on  earth?" 

Mother. — "  Yes,  my  daughter." 

Mary. — "  Well,  I  find  on  reading  this  chapter  (pre- 
senting the  one  just  named) ,  that  Christ  in  the  37th  verse 
commands,  '  Thou  shall  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  thy  neighbor  as  thy>-e]f,'  now,  if  this  is  binding  on 
me  and  calls  for  all  ray  love  to  be  surrendered  to  God, 
where  will  I  find  any  left  for  you,  father,  brother,  sisters, 
&c.  1 » 

Mother. — "  The  declaration  you  speak  of,  my  child, 
was  drawn  from  our  Savior  in  answer,  as  you  will  per- 
ceive, to  a  taunting  question  put  to  Kim  by  a  lawyer  of 
the  sect  of  Pharisees,  viz. : 

"  'Master,  which  is  the  greatest  commandment  in  the 
law?'  and,  in  order  belter  to  capacitate  you  to  understand 
the  answer  in  all  its  breadth,  height,  and  depth,  and  to 
show  that  the  requirements  on  my  part  from  you  to  dis- 
charge filial  duties  towards  your  earthly  parents,  observing 
in  connexion  therewith  a  proper  regard  for  the  ties  of  con- 
sanguinity, with  a  general  love  to  all  mankind,  is  not  at 
variance  with  God's  Word,  I  will  read  to  you  a  note  or 
comment,  by  an  able  Gospel  Minister,  of  the  present  day, 
— He  says  the  meaning  of  'thou  shall  love  the  Lord 
thy  God,  &c.'  is,  thou  shall  love  him  supremely,  more  than 
all  other  beings  and  things,  and  with  all  ardor  possible,  to 
love  him  wiih  all  thy  heart  is  to  fix  the  affection  supreme- 
ly on  him  more  strongly  than  on  anything  else,  and  to  be 
willing  to  give  up  all  that  we  hold  dear  at  his  command. 

"  '  With  all  thy  soul  or  with  all  thy  life,  this  means  to 
be  willing  to  give  up  the  life  to  him  and  to  devote  it  to  his 
service,  to  live  to  him,  and  be  willing  to  die  at  his  com- 
mand. 

"  '  With  all  thy  mind,  is  to  submit  all  our  intellect  to  his 
will — to  love  his  law  and  glory  more  than  we  do  the  de- 
cisions of  our  own  mind. 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  17 

"  '  To  be  willing  to  submit  all  our  faculties  to  his  teaching 
and  guidance,  and  to  devote  to  him  all  our  intellectual 
attainments  and  all  the  results  of  our  intellectual  efforts. 

"  '  With  all  thy  strength,  with  all  thy  faculties  of  soul 
and  body.  To  labor  and  toil  for  his  glory  and  to  make 
that  the  great  object  of  all  our  efforts."  ' 

Parents  are  too  apt  to  repulse  their  children  when  in- 
terrogating or  seeking  information,  excusing  themselves 
that  time  will  not  permit  the  hindrance,  or  the  solution 
of  the  information  sought  is  either  so  simple  or  nonsensi- 
cal as  to  require  no  reply. 

This  I  consider  an  error  in  judgment  as  filial,  conju- 
gal, or  those  emotions  arising  from  the  heart  of  the  ge- 
nuine philanthropist,  may  all  spring  in  a  less  or  greater 
degree  from  sinister  or  selfish  motives  of  affection. 

But  parental  love  alone  exists  without  alloy,  Dr. 
Franklin's  opinion  as  to  natural  affections  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding  ;  and  there  is  nothing  so  insignificant  in 
creation  that  cannot  be  made  to  improve  the  meanest  in- 
teliect  of  a  child,  where  its  infant  prattle  (under  proper 
subjection  as  to  time  and  place),  even  as  to  the  growth  of 
a  blade  of  maize,  or  spear  of  grass,  the  creation  of  an  in- 
sect, the  formation  of  a  ball,  the  construction  of  a  doll, 
may  all  be  so  explained  by  the  parent  as  to  prove  bene- 
ficial to  its  offspring  in  after  life,  and  the  course  pursued 
by  the  mother  with  her  daughter  Mary,  as  just  mentioned, 
is  worthy  of  every  parent's  or  instructor's  imitation  ;  still  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  explanations  are  often  left  in  obscurit}^ 
for  the  want  of  certain  words  not  being  defined  so  as  to 
reach  the  infant  capacity.  In  expressing  this  fear,  I  do  not 
advise  the  surrender  of  dignified  language  which  can  at 
all  times  be  employed  without  descending  to  technicali- 
ties. 

The  note  of  the  able  commentary  as  far  as  it  goes  is  all 
very  well,  and  wisely  employed  by  the  mother;  still,  Mary 
is  left  ignorant  as  to  the  true  meaning  of  "  thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  which  could  have  been  happily 
explained  by  reference  to  our  Savior's  narrative  of  the 
good  Samaritan's  conduct  towards  a  Jew  journeying  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  who  fell  among  thieves,  and  was 
left  by  those  who  had  robbed  him,  weltering  in  his  blood, 
nearly  dead,  and  passed  by  unaided  by  those  of  his  coun- 
trymen in  high  stations.     Still  the  Samaritan  who  was 


18  PARENTS    AND   CHILDREN. 

also  travelling  the  same  way,  and  actuated  by  true  princi- 
ples of  benevolence,  on  seeing  a  fellow  creature  thus  situ- 
ated, humanely  stepped  forth  and  administered  unto  his 
necessitous  situation,  doing  as  he  would  like  to  be  done 
by  under  similar  circumstances,  although  the  object  as- 
sisted sprang  from  a  tribe  which  the  Samaritan  had  been 
taught  on  his  mother's  lap  to  hate,  despise,  and  neglect. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  peruser  of  this  little  work  may  perhaps  consider 
me  as  too  frequently  introducing  the  name  of  my  father, 
but  as  1  only  beheld  my  mother  with  tlie  eyes  of  an  infant, 
it  was  to  him  alone  that  I  principally  looked  up  for  sin- 
cere council  and  advice,  which  he  never  failed  to  grant  in 
tenderness  and  love,  Ihough  so  stern  and  inflexible  irt  all 
his  Scotch  parental  demands,  that  never  would  he  permit 
me  to  appear  before  him  without  my  hat  off,  or  leave  his 
presence  when  under  reproof;  and  should  many  of  the 
oriental  disciplines  of  parents  towards  their  children  be 
practised  at  the  present  day  in  this  country,  such  parents 
would  be  branded  with  the  epithet  of  tyrants,  and  the 
child  be  encouraged  by  not  a  few  low-bred  and  illiterate 
serfs  to  flee  its  home  for  some  distant  land,  and  that  too 
at  a  tender  and  dangerous  stage  of  life. 

But  in  all  his  stern  requirements  for  reverence  and  re- 
spect, still  his  soul  delighted  at  all  times  to  descend  to  my 
infant  capacity,  whereby  I  might  not  only  profitably  be 
instructed  but  amused.  One  instance  in  particular  I  beg 
leave  to  mention.  When  a  child  about  six  years  old  re- 
siding in  my  native  town,  Newton,  Sussex  County,  New 
Jersey,  about  sixty  miles  from  the  sea-board,  to  which 
there  was  no  regular  communication  but  once  a  week,  on 
horseback  by  the  mail  carrier,  though  now  there  is  a 
connected  line  of  steam  ears  and  stages  running  daily  froni 
Jersey  City  to  Milford,  Pa.,  embracing  a  distance  of  eighty 
miles,  consequently  fifty  years  ago  Newton  was  rarely 
privileged  (if  so   in  truth  it  could  be  styled) ,  to  those  of 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  19 

the  present  day  in  scenes  of  amusement  for  the  young, 
excepting  spinning  frolics  and  apple  cuts. 

At  last,  however,  a  doivn-Easter  ventured  bis  way  over 
stones  and  stumps,  with  one  horse  and  wagon  loaded  with 
puppets,  and  such  an  apparatus  as  would  enable  him  to 
give  an  exhibition  in  butfoonery,  as  the  citizens  of  New- 
ton had  never  before  witnessed,  the  corners  of  the  streets, 
and  the  pumps  thereof,  with  the  two  stores  and  two  Inns, 
were  soon  placarded,  setting  forth  an  array  of  amusements, 
the  like  of  which  never  occurred  in  the  brightest  days  of, 
Shakspeare.  The  hoop,  marbles,  ball,  and  even  books 
which  had  before  pleased,  had  now  lost  their  charms.  Al- 
though every  child's  eye  (with  not  a  few  adults)  beamed 
with  joy  at  an  early  hour  of  the  day  in  anticipation  of  the 
announced  evening's  performance,  still  it  was  left  for  mine 
to  droop  in  digspondency.  My  father  was  absent  from 
home  about  ten  miles  distant,  in  the  exercise  of  his  pro- 
fession as  a  physician,  and  I  farther  well  knew  that  with- 
out his  accompanying  me  I  dared  not  "  see  the  Elephant.'''' 

The  room  where  the  puppets  were  to  be  exhibited  was 
lighted — playmates  running  from  every  direction  of  the 
village  to  gain  an  entrance — with  me  all  I  supposed  was 
lost,  when  to  my  great  joy  and  satisfaction  I  discovered 
my  father  on  horseback  wending  his  way  homeward. 
With  tears  in  my  eyes  I  asked  him  if  I  might  go  that  night 
and  see  the  puppets  dance,  which  other  boys  had  told  me 
was  a  beautiful  sight  and  had  already  commenced.  He 
assured  me  it  had  not,  although  the  door  was  opened  for 
the  reception  of  visitors,  still  tlje  performance  would  not 
commence  under  halfan  hour;  having  full  confidence  in 
his  word,  and  being  taught  prompt  obedience,  I  became 
calm  and  resigned. 

And  in  a  iew  minutes  taking  his  hand,  1  was  conduct- 
ed into  a  thronged  assembly,  greeted  by  instrumental  mu- 
sic. On  the  rising  of  the  curtain,  a  little  old  gentleman  and 
lady,  in  height  about  eighteen  inches,  called  Punch  and 
Judy,  made  their  appearance  on  a  small  stage  or  platform, 
very  obsequiously  bov.'ingand  courtseyingto  their  audience; 
after  which  in  strains  of  the  warmest  conjugal  love — kiss- 
ed with  arms  around  each  other's  neck — Punch  called  upon 
the  musician  for  an  appropriate  tune  whereto  he  and  his 
wife  Judy  might  dance.  The  request  was  complied  with, 
and  the  little  old  gentleman  and  lady  commenced^(which 


20  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

I  supposed  was  all  real),  several  feats  of  agility,  mostly 
confined  to   the  feet — passed  and  repassed   each   other, 
hopped,  jumped,  wheeled  about  and  turned  about,  to  the 
great  amusement  of  all  the  children  present.     Such  was 
the  ecstacy  realized  on  my  part  that  I  cried  for  joy,  which 
being  observed  by  my  aged  sire  caused  him  to  smile — an 
evidence  of  his  happiness  in  finding  his  son  pleased,  not 
however  without  a  mixture  of  regret  for  my  want  of  ration- 
ality.    Punch  and  Judy  finishing  their  dance,  immediately 
made  their  exjt,  as  I  supposed  into  a  rear  room,  upon  which 
my  father  commenced  a  comment  on  the  whole  scene,  as 
follows  :  "  ]My  son,  what  you  have  just  seen  was  not  real, 
but  a  mixture  of  imitations,  or  falsehood  covered  with  dis- 
guise.    Punch  and  Judy  are  nothing  but  pieces  of  inani- 
mate matter,  and  every  part  of  their  bodies,  covered  and 
uncovered  is  the  work  of  art  and  n(  t  of  nature.     The  eyes 
are  glass,  the  sockets  in  which  they  are  set  are  formed  out 
of  wood  by  a  carver,  together  with  the  ears,  nose,  mouth, 
chin,  arms,  hands,  legs,  and  feet;  the  articulations  of  their 
joints  are  produced  by  small  wires  so  constructed  as  to  be 
governed  by  the  draw  of  a  larger  one  unseen  to  you,  by 
a  man  behind   that  screen  (pointing  to  a  large  piece  of 
green  baize  about  ten  feet  long,  and  reaching  from  the 
floor  nearly  to  the  ceilino;).     As  he  passed  along  in  his 
e?:planations,he  also  denned  in  child-like  style  the  meaning 
of  imitation,  disguise,  inanimate,  art;  and  at  this  latter 
word  he  took  occasion  to  teach  me  the -difference  between 
art  and  science,  and  resuming  the  definition  of  words,  ex- 
plained to  me  the  meaning  of  socket,  carver,  articulation 
(when  applied  to  joint?),  constructed,  governed,  screen, 
which  course  h»  had  always   pursued,  and   subsequently 
practised  throughout  his  life   when  in  oral  conversation. 
First  scene   closed  as  just  named,  a  second  opened  by 
what  was  denominated  in  the  bill  of  advertisement,  babes 
in  the    wood,  which   was  so  represented    as  to  show  a 
wicked  uncle  contracting  wilh  two  mercenaries  for  the 
death  of  a  nephew  and  niece,  aged  about  four  and  three 
years  old,  whereby  he  might  obtain  their  large  inherit- 
ance, Avhich,  being  concluded,  he  made  his  exit.     When 
the  hired  villains  immediately  on  horseback  conducted  the 
children  into  a  w^ik'erness  of  great  extent — one  more  com- 
passionate than  the  other  refused  to  execute  the  murder- 
ous bargain,  and  in  a  quarrel  with  his  relentless  comrade 


PARENTS   AND    CHILDREN.  21 

slew  him  and  instantly  fled,  leaving  the  children  alone 
wandering  to  and  fro  in  the  woods  until  nearly  dark,  with- 
out being  able  to  retrace  their  steps — when  for  want  of 
food,  fatigue  of  the  day,  and  exhaustion  of  strength,  re- 
posed themselves  under  the  boughs  of  a  mighty  oak,  and 
soon  fell  asleep  in  each  other's  arms,  where  robins  cover- 
ed them  with  leaves.  The  next  day  at  the  dawn  of  morn- 
ing, renewed  their  efforts  to  find  a  way  out  of  the  woods, 
but  fruitless  as  before,  accompanied  with  loud  lamenta- 
tions, famished  for  want  of  food  again  about  sun-set,  cried 
or  wept  themselves  to  sleep — to  awake  no  more  on  the 
shores  of  mortality,  and  in  like  manner  the  kind  services 
of  the  bird  covered  their  little  bodies — succeeded  imme- 
diately by  a  convoy  of  mimic  angels  conducting  them 
above  (in  appearance)  to  the  realms  of  bliss.  The  whole 
scene  was  solemn  and  imposing,  causirg  like  the  first 
(though  under  different  influence),  tears  again  to  flow 
down  my  little  placid  cheeks,  creating  at  the  same  time 
in  the  countenance  of  my  father  evident  satisfaction  of 
pleasure  in  beholding  the  tender  and  virtuous  emotions  of 
my  heart. 

This  second  scene  closed,  there  was  yet  a  third  to  be 
presented,  during  the  intervals  of  which  my  father  made 
several  comments  on  the  inordinate  love  of  inoney,  which 
had  so  governed  the  uncle  as  to  prompt  the  murderous 
act  in  connection  with  a  diabolical  violation  of  the  tie  of 
consanguinity,  and  all  laws  governing  social,  moral,  and 
religious  duties  incumbent  or  binding  on  man. 

Next  the  providence  of  God,  in  the  kind  offices  of  the 
robin,  and  although  the  appearance  of  an  immediate  con- 
veyance of  the  children  in  the  bosom  of  their  heavenly 
father,  was  calculated  to  show  the  benefits  that  finally 
await  the  innocent,  still  he  believed  the  representation  of 
the  angels  to  be  a  direct  act  of  blasphemy. 

The  third  and  last  scene  introduced  Punch  and  Judy, 
not  however  under  the  same  influence  or  feelings  of  cour- 
tesy and  respect  for  their  audience,  or  in  as  happy  and 
friendly  a  state  of  mind  towards  each  other  as  in  the  first 
scene,  but  rushed  upon  the  stage  highly  excited,  and  in 
language  loud,  criminating  and  recriminating  each  other, 
soon  leading  to  blows. 

In  the  height  of  which,  the  devil  was  represented  as 
coming  up  from  below,  belching  forth  from  his  mouth  sul- 


22  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

phuric  flames,  long  tail,  horns  on  his  head — feet  cloven, 
who  without  any  ceremony,  seized  upon  the  rioters  and 
conducted  them  below  to  the  regions  of  interminable  mise- 
ry; this  last  scene  caused  me  to  shrink  from  fear,  and 
clinging  to  the  arm  of  my  father,  appeared  to  say — pro- 
tect me  ;  having  as  little  knowledge  of  security  as  a  little 
child  of  two  years  old  with  his  head  under  mother's  apron, 
or  the  ostrich  when  chased  by  the  hunter  mounted  on  horse- 
back^ on  the  ocean's  beach  thinks  itself  secure  if  in  sand 
it  can  only  cover  its  head. 

On  our  way  home  he  resumed  further  comments  on  the 
exhibition,  observing  first  that  the  fear  I  manifested  dur- 
ing the  last  scene  was  a  natural  inherent  principle  of  nian, 
and  could  only  be  removed  by  the  grace  of  God,  who 
would  never  withhold  the  consolation  of  peace  and  secu- 
rity from  those  who  sincerely  loved  and  kept  his  com- 
mandments. 

Whereas  "  the  wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth," 
and  I  trust  my  son,  your  course  of  conduct  through  life 
will  never  cause  you  to  be  ashamed  to  live,  or  afraid  to 
die,  and  as  to  the  last  scene  of  the  puppets  which  we 
witnessed  this  evening,  I  am  clear  in  the  opinion  as  in 
the  second  that  it  was  profane  and  alien  in  the  sight  of 
Heaven. 

And  the  principal  reason  for  not  permitting  you  to  visit 
those  kind  of  shows  or  exhibitions  wilhout  my  presence, 
is  to  protect  and  guard  your  mind  against  poisonous,  false, 
and  erroneous  implantations,  which  otherwise  might  be 
made,  and  although  I  would  not  carry  out  in  your  educa- 
tion to  the  full  extent  of  certain  measures  which  the  Spar- 
tans practised  (particularly  in  making  their  servants 
drunk  in  order  to  show  their  children  the  evils  therefrom) , 
still  such  is  the  power  and  force  of  ocular  demonstrations 
(that  in  subsequent  years  should  our  lives  be  spared), 
I  may  deem  it  proper  to  let  you  visit  a  theatre,  where 
you  may  see  pictured  almost  to  life  in  the  tragedy  of  the 
Gamester,  the  baneful  influence  of  gambling. 

In  the  London  Apprentice,  or  sometimes  called  George 
Barnvvell,  the  blighting  influence  on  a  3'outh,  who,  when 
basking  in  the  mild  sunshine  of  innocence  and  virtue^ 
was  caught  like  a  bird  in  the  fowler's  snare  by  a  wicked 
Millwood,  whose  fatal  charms  allured,  seduced,  and  at 
last  dragged  him  down  into  a  gulf  of  infamy,  shame,  and 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  23 

misery,  accompanied  with  blushes  of  conscious  guilt — a 
thief — a  fornicator,  and  afterwards — the  murderer  of  his 
beloved  uncle,  for  which  latter  deed  he  expired  on  an 
ignominious  gallows.      * 

And  although  Barnwell's  tender  age,  without  counsel, 
father  or  mother,  may  have  caused  him  to  become  an 
easier  prey  still,  "  All  for  Love,  or  the  World  well  lost," 
shows  that  a  wicked'  cunning  woman  in  the  person  of  a 
Cleopatra  could  seduce  and  hurl  from  his  kingdom,  even 
the  cool,  sagacious  Anthony,  at  a  moment,  too,  when  he 
sought  her  destruction  as  queen  of  Egypt. 

The  tragedies  of  "  Julius  Ceesar,"  and  that  of 
"  Richard  the  Third,"  point  to  plunder,  blood  and  carnage, 
without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  as  the  legitimate  offspring 
of  inordinate  ambition,  while  it  is  left  for  an  Othello  to 
show  the  despicable  character  of  a  liar  and  a  mischief- 
maker,  in  causing  seeds  of  jealousy  to  be  so  sown  and 
rooted  in  the  mind  of  a  husband  by  a  villanous  lago,  as 
not  only  to  destroy  the  strong  bond  of  true  conjugal  affec- 
tion, but  lead  to  the  death  of  a  fond  and  affectionate  wife, 
as  represented  in  the  beautiful  and  innocent  Desdemona, 
and  afterwards  again  by  the  same  hand  the  assassination  of 
him  whose  diabolical  plot  in  creating  jealousy  had  its  ori- 
gin in  covetousness,  desiring  the  station  of  Cassio,  whose 
overthrow  he  only  contemplated  without  any  design  upon 
the  natural  life  of  Desdemona,  though  through  slander 
he  was  willing  to  doubly  murder  her. 

Although  a  kind  explanation  with  comments  had  been 
furnished  by  my  father  in  relation  to  the  exhibition  just 
witnessed,  with  several  unseen  theatrical  amusements, 
still  I  was  left  in  ignorance  as  to  the  true  cause  by  which 
the  puppets  appeared  to  speak  or  move,  and  notwith- 
standing during  certain  seasons  (when  not  in  time  and 
place),  he  was  very  austere  and  repulsive,  yet  sacrificed 
much  in  answering  all  my  childish  questions,  and  a  great 
number  seemed  rather  to  please  than  if  I  remained  a 
mute,  idle,  or  unobserving  child.  "  My  son,  the  seemed 
conversation  of  the  puppets  to  which  you  so  attentively 
listened  this  evening,  proceeded  from  the  same  man  who 
I  told  you  held  the  long  wire  behind  the  screen,  by  an 
art,  styled  ventriloquism,  possessed  but  by  few  persons, 
and  a  dangerous  talent  often  producing  death;  as  instead 
of  naturally  rising  from  the  lungs  it  is  drawn  up  from  the 


24  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.    " 

abdomen  direct  into  the  thorax  or  windpipe,  without  any 
motion  of  the  lips,  and  to  a  bystander  often  appears  to 
come  from  a  distance  or  contrary  way  from  the  ventrilo- 
quist, and  in  addition  to  what  I  have  already  named  about 
the  wire  pulling,  you  will  find  as  you  grow  up  to  manhood 
a  great  many  human  puppets  in  the  vvorld,  conspicuous  in 
their  movements,  yet  entirely  governed,  directed  and 
controlled  by  deceitful,  artfid  wire  pullers,  unseen  and 
unheard  by  those  against  whom  they  intend  to  operate  in 
some  base  pecuniary  fraud  or  political  juggling.  In  men- 
tioning the  just  preceding  course  of  my  sire,  in  relation 
to  amusements,  some  of  my  readers  may  suppose  that  I  am 
an  uncompromising  advocate  for  the  theatres  in  affording 
youthful,  mental  recreations,  whereas  (though  frank  to  ac- 
knowledge myself  an  admirer  of  Shakspeare's  writings), 
I  believe  the  theatre  has  been  productive  of  much  harm 
in  corrupting  good  morals,  particularly  by  encouraging 
apprentices  in  large  cities  to  purloin  money  from  their 
masters,  and  while  the  present  shilling  houses  of  amuse- 
ment may  have  lessened  the  amount  stolen,  still  it  has 
dragged  from  the  poor  wndow  and  fatherless  children  many 
a  loaf  of  bread,  and  sent  her  ragged  elder  son  alone  to 
a  theatrical  pit,  there  to  congregate  with  the  low  and  vul- 
gar, whose  examples  are  too  often  unchaste  and  immoral, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  impurity  of  the  matters  represented 
in  the  play. 

It  is  held  by  many,  that  where  children  are  daily  afford- 
ed opportunities  of  beholding  bills  announcing  plays,  and 
parents  invariably  refuse  to  allow  them  any  participation 
therein,  the  children  are  thereby  rendered  doubly  disposed 
to  play  the  tritant  and  become  refractory. 

As  to  the  soundness  of  this  logic,  I  leave  my  reader 
partly  to  decide;  but  one  fact  i^  certain,  that  we  should  never 
"  do  evil  that  good  may  come,"  and  if  parents  should  oc- 
casionally deem  it  proper  to  indulge  their  children  in  visit- 
ing houses  of  amusement,  not  only  great  care  must  be  ob- 
served in  selecting  the  piece,  but  always  personally  ac- 
company them,  and  as  far  as  possible  by  timely  comment 
extract  sweet  from  the  bitter. 

Parents  residing  in  the  country  are  not  so  exposed  as 
the  class  just  named,  and  should  they  find  occasion  with 
any  of  their  children  to  visit  a  large  city,  had  better  take 
them  to  an  exhibition  of  natural  curiosities,  or  visit  a  gal- 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  25 

lery  of  fine  arts,  where  the  pencil  has  almost  exhibited 
nature  herself,  or  traverse  the  wharves  and  hear  the  bust- 
ling noise  of  commerce,  with  a  view  of  the  majestic  ship 
which  brings  the  produce  of  foreign  climes  in  exchange 
for  ours.  And  it  is  to  be  extremely  regretted  for  the  last 
few  year&,  our  museums  have  become  greatly  corrupted 
by  the  introduction  of  buffoonery,  obscene  songs,  and  negro 
extravaganzas. 

In  objecting  to  children  visiting  houses  of  amusement 
without  their  parents  or  proper  guardian,  not  only  false 
impressions  may  be  imbibed,  but  also  salutary  opportuni- 
ties lost  for  profitable  instruction ;  for  instance,  the  tragedy 
of  a  Damon  and  a  Pythias  represented  in  the  presence  of  a 
child,  exhibits  the  strong  chords  of  true  and  genuine  friend- 
ship as  to  be  willing  to  die  for  each  other ;  still,  how  weak 
and  insignificant  when  contrasted  with  the  unbounded  and 
unparalleled  love  of  the  Savior  of  the  w^orld,  who  died  for 
his  enemies  that  through  his  precious  blood  they  might 
live  here  and  hereafter  in  peace  and  happiness- 

To  a  great  extent  inordinate  desires  for  theatrical 
amusements,  might  be  lessened  by  a  greater  familiarity  on 
the  part  of  parents  in  conversation  with  their  children,  the 
introduction  of  chaste  books  with  innocent  plays  when  at 
home.  Playing  cards  as  employed  by  gamblers,  should 
never  be  introduced  to  children,  not  even  what  is  styled 
a  genteel  game  of  whist,  and  they  should  be  kept  ignorant 
even  as  to  the  name  or  value  in  play  of  any  card,  and  the 
same  course  pursued  in  after  life  growing  out  of  this  con- 
scious ignorance,  will  keep  them  secure  against  the  frauds 
of  gamblers  and  blacklegs.  Drunkenness,  though  slow 
in  its  progress,  will  ultimately  lead  to  poverty ;  but  the 
gambler  in  less  than  one  hour  may  not  only  bankrupt  him- 
self, but  also  a  confiding  friend  or  friends,  who  had  en 
dorsed  his  business  paper,  besides  bringing  around  his 
domestic  fireside  a  long  train  of  misery,  want  and  penury, 
inflicted  upon  a  fond  and  affectionate  wife  and  family  of 
children, 

I  have  already  hinted  at  some  of  the  moral  and  physi- 
cal recreations  necessary  for  children,  and  will  add,  as  I 
may  hereafter  have  occasion  to  speak,  that  while  the  body 
is  sought  to  be  improved  the  mind  should  not  be  neglect- 
ed ;  the  sports  of  foot  races  and  ball  alleys  for  boys,  exert 
a  healthy  motion  on^very  part  of  the  body  as  well  as  an 
2 


26  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

active  vigilance  on  the  mind,  and  the  latter  also  affords  a 
convenient  place  for  girls  to  jump  the  rope,  or  enjoy  a 
game  of  graces  in  tossing  the  hoop.  But  as  a  general  rule, 
I  cannot  recommend  jumping,  hopping,  or  wrestling-,  for 
they  are  more  or  less  attended  with  danger,  and  it  is  a 
source  of  deep  regret  that  parents  and  teachers  introduce 
gymnastics  for  the  amusement  of  their  children,  which 
too  often  lead  to  the  destruction  of  life,  such  as  fire  arms 
and  swings  ;  the  sensation  of  pleasure  derived  from  the  lat- 
ter is  but  an  undue  rush  of  blood  to  the  head,  and  thereby 
produces  dropsy  on  the  brain. 

All  games  of  chance  should  be  avoided,  and  although 
the  backgammon  table  is  practised  by  many  of  the  fashion- 
able and  genteel,  still  it  greatly  depends  upon  chance  in 
the  throw  of  the  dice. 

The  billiard  table,  shuffle  board,  pitching  quoits,  and 
the  ten-pin  alley,  though  they  exert  an  exercise  of  the 
pectoral  muscle  with  a  calculation  of  the  mind,  still  they 
are  generally  productive  of  profanity  in  adults,  particular- 
ly when  a  bet  is  pending,  and  boys  become  adults. 

As  a  mental  exercise  free  from  all  work  of  chance,  I 
can  cheerfully  recommend  the  checker  and  chess  board, 
but  in  no  instance  should  a  wager  pend  on  the  final  issue  of 
any  game,  for  he  who  extracts  money  or  property  from 
another  without  giving  its  value,  and  justifies  himself  on 
the  ground  that  he  risked  the  same  amount  will  find  his 
argument  not  only  in  the  eyes  of  a  holy  and  pure  being, 
but  in  every  good  and  -virtuous  man's  a  base  subterfuge. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  impressions  made  upon 
the  mind  of  a  child  only  three  or  four  years  old  are  the 
most  permanent  and  lasting,  consequently  the  neglect  on 
the  part  of  parents  to  properly  instruct,  or  cause  to  be 
instructed  their  children  at  a  tender  age,  may  subject  them 
«>  in  after  life  to  imbibe  fatal  and  pernicious  errors,  at  a  time 
too  when  the  parent  ceases  to  exist  and  no  true  friend  at 
hand  to  correct  the  evil. 

Our  beneficent  Heavenly  Father  has  furnished  means 
^whereby  ends  may  be  secured,  and  however  laudable 
desires  may  exist  in  the  human  breast  (under  proper  re- 
strictions) ,  as  to  this  world's  goods,  a  child  should  early 
not  only  be  taught  to  cultivate  all  the  social  relations 
which  bind  man  to  his  fellow-man,  but  also  the  infinite 
value  of  its  soul,  and  the  means  whereby  it  may  be  made 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  27 

happy  here  and  in  eternity,  which  we  are  tauglit,  through 
the  Bible,  is  a  \vork  entirely  of  grace  through  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  faith  necessarily  presupposes  knoidtdge 
of  this  object,  and  all  his  attributes  upon  which  it  is  exert- 
ed ;  and  as  children  die,  this  one  of  the  many  gracious 
raeans  should  early  be  inparted  as  far  as  possible,  which 
like  bread  cast  upon  water,  may  many  days  after  be  pro- 
fitably gathered  up  or  collected. 

One  instance  which  I  beg  leave  to  mention,  is  the  case 
of  a  little  girl  about  eleven  years  old,  who,  during  a  re- 
vival, in  1816,  in  a  Presbyterian  congregation  in  Orange 
County,  New  York,  was  admitted  into  full  communion 
of  the  Church,  and  after  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper, 
was  asked  by  a  wag,  on  her  way  home,  if  she  knew  the 
Lord  Jesus,  whose  dying  love  she  had  just  been  celebrat- 
ing, and  very  gravely  answered — 

"  Yes  sir.  He  is  so  big  as  the  Heavens  of  Heavens  can- 
not contain  him,  and  yet  so  condescending  as  to  dtjced  in 
my  little  heart. ^^ 

The  wag  next  asked  what  object  she  had  in  connecting 
herself  with  the  Church? 

The  girl  replied — "  as  one  of  the  means  whereby  I  may 
have  my  soul  happy  here  and  hereafter.''^ 

Ah  !  (rejoined  the  scoffer),  do  you  know  what  your 
soul  is  ? 

"  Yes.     It  is  that  tuhich  thinks,  sir — the  Mind.'''' 

Some  may  be  ready  to  doubt  this  statement,  but  I  had 
it  from  my  preceptor,  when  a  student  of  medicine,  who 
was  at  that  time  an  Elder  in  an  adjoining  Church.  And 
though  now  dead,  has  left  a  name  for  truth  and  veracity 
as  pure  as  the  unbleached  snow  upon  the  mountain  tops. 

Although  it  will  readily  be  admitted  these  questions 
were  the  legitimate  offspring  of  a  divine  operation,  still, 
no  doubt,  graciously  bestowed  through  proper  instruc- 
tion on  tlie  part  of  earthly  parents  or  guardians,  and  her 
knowdedge  of  what  constituted  the  immortal  part  of  man, 
puts  the  blush  on  man}^,  who,  when  asked  what  is  the 
soul?  answer,  the  heart — the  office  of  which  is  intended 
to  regulate  life — or,  if  they  do  not  name  this  organ,  will 
declare  it  is  the  blood,  which,  when  properly  oxygenated 
and  elaborated,  imparts  strength  and  nutrition  to  every 
part  of  the  body,  through  which  it  wonderfully  and  sub- 
limely circulates,  but,  like  its  coursing  channels,  is  con- 
fined within  and  bounded  by  the  walls  of  mortality. 


28  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER  V. 


It  is  said  of  a  pious  mother  who  had  on  a  certain  even- 
ins^  during  the  erection  of  the  family  altar,  her  youngest 
son,  about  eight  years  old,  kneeling  at  her  lap  with  two 
younger  daughters,  while  the  husband,  after  having  read 
the  fifth  chapter  of  Paul's  first  Epistle  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians,  further  led  the  devotional  exercises  by  prayer, 
■which,  when  closed,  the  mother  directed  her  children  to 
retire  to  their  respective  places  of  rest  during  the  remain- 
der of  the  night.     The  little  boy  looked  and  asked — 

"  Mother,  who  has  the  first  right  to  my  obedience — 
God  or  you  V 

The  mother  very  mildly  replied,  "that  our  Creator 
was  always  promptly  to  be  obeyed  as  far  as  finite  capaci- 
ties would  admit ;  and  wise  and  good  mothers  would 
never  ask  from  their  children  that  which  is  in  contradic- 
tion to  the  will  of  tlieir  Heavenly  Father."  The  little 
boy  continued — 

"  Well,  mother,  the  chapter  which  father  just  read 
from  the  Bible,  commands  us  to  '  pray  without  ceasing,' 
and  you  tell  me  to  stop  praying  and  go  to  bed." 

The  mother  smiled,  and  said,  "  I  will  tell  you  a  story 
about  an  old  black  man  called  Ned,  slave  to  a  planter  by 
the  name  of  Thornton,  residing  in  the  lower  part  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  with  whom  boarded  a  young  clergyman  from 
the  North,  who,  one  morning,  after  reading  the  chapter 
now  under  consideration,  and  which  in  the  17th  verse 
says,  '  pray  without  ceasing,'  called  forth  a  friendly  ex- 
change of  opinion  from  the  members  of  the  family,  as  to 
the  true  meaning  of  the  passage, 

"  Old  Ned,  though  deprived  of  the  knowledge  of  let- 
tcrs,  and  from  policy  kept  in  general  ignorance,  still  was 
more  favored  than  the  rest  of  the  slaves,  for  he  was  occa- 
sionally called  from  his  hut  to  perform  some  of  the  menial 
duties  of  I\Ir.  Thornton's  table,  who  professed  to  be  a  fol- 
low^er  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (though  mother  thinks  he 
greatly  erred  in  holding  fellow-beings  in  bondage). 
However,  Ned  thus  privileged,  in  connexion  with  the 
more  particular  attention  on  the  part  of  the  young  clergy- 
man, had  picked  up  some  wholesome  spiritual  crumbs  as 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN,  29 

they  fell  from  Lis  master's  table,  and  on  g"oing  one  aft  r- 
noon  to  the  young  clergyman,  said,  '  massa,  me  overheard 
you — massa  and  missus  Thornton,  talkin'  about  the 
meanin'  of  "  pray  widout  ceasin',"  now  will  you  let  me 
give  my  meanin'.'  '  Certainly,'  replied  the  clergyman. 
Ned  then  replied,  '  when  missus  tells  me  to  go  sweep 
parlor  floor,  off  I  go  get  de  broom,  obedient  to  them  that  has 
authority  over  me,  and  as  I  sweep  de  floor,  pray  God  to 
sweep  clean  my  heart.  Missus  tell  me  again,  go  kindle 
de  fire.  I  go  right  off,  and  as  I  blow  de  coals,  pray  God 
to  kindle  up  a  holy  fire  in  poor  old  slave  heart ;  and 
massa  tells  me  go  in  de  field  and  hoe  corn,  off  I  go  get  de 
hoe,  obedient  to  another  that  has  authority  over  me,  and 
as  I  hoe  round  de  corn,  at  de  same  time  pray  that  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  would  hoe  grace  all  round  poor  old  NeJ's 
heart,  and  dis  me  call  pray  widout  ceasin'.'  " 

I  trust  I  shall  not  be  accused  by  my  reader  as  indulg- 
ing in  unwarrantable  levity,  and  beg  leave  to  say,  that 
old  Ned's  explanations  of  "  pray  without  ceasing,"  re- 
mind me  of  two  boys  who  were  sent  by  their  mother  on 
a  certain  morning  to  the  wood-pile  to  pick  up  chips,  in 
order  to  prepare  for  dinner.  In  due  time  the  boys  arrived, 
and  James's  arms  were  heavily  laden,  while  his  brother's 
were  entirely  empty.  The  mother,  at  the  top  of  her 
voice,  cried  out — 

"  Bill,  why  have  you  disobeyed  me,  in  coming  without 
any  chips '?"  -""fr^ 

"  I'll  tell  you,  mother,"  replied  the  boy.  "  Jim's  f jet 
was  so  big  that  they  kivered  them  all  up." 

And  believing  that  old  Ned's  explanation  of  "pray  with- 
out ceasing"  has  not  only  fully  covered  the  whole  ground, 
but  beautifully  shows  how  a  passage  of  holy  scripture  can 
beneficially  bear  a  spiritual  interpretation,  which  at  the 
same  time  approximates  literally  to  an  impossibility. 

The  little  boy  listened  very  attentively  to  old  Ned's 
explanation  as  just  stated,  still  manifesting  an  unwilling- 
ness to  commit  himself  to  sleep  at  that  hour,  no  doubt  be- 
lieving, as  many  children  do,  that  mothers  greatly  err  in 
issuing  their  early  orders  for  bed,  but  not  comprehending 
that  a  like  rising  verifies  an  old  proverb,  in  imparting 
health,  wealth,  and  wisdom.  Sensible,  however,  that  all 
bis  petitions  proved  unavailing,  he  threw  his  arms  around 
his  mother's  neck  and  affectionately  kissing  her,  accom- 


30  PAllENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

panied  with  a  "  good  night — off  I  go  to  bed,  and  suppose, 
according  to  old  Ned's  views,  I  must  pray  Jesus  to  sleep 
■with  me."  "  Certainly,"  replied  the  mother.  Upon  which, 
the  child  very  shrewdly  rejoined  :  "  well,  mother,  if 
Jesus  sleeps  with  me,  who  will  take  care  of  you,  father, 
,  brother,  and  sisters,  with  the  Chinese,  who,  you  told  me 
last  night,  rose  about  this  hour."  This  last,  like  the  first 
question,  was  promptly  answered  by  the  mother,  who  so 
taught  as  to  impress  upon  the  mind  the  propriety  of  ask- 
ing Christ  to  sleep  with  us,  and  at  the  same  time  so  qua- 
lified as  to  understand  that  his  omnipresent  eye  never 
sleeps. 

To  even  slightly  scan  over  the  many  passages  of  sacred 
scripture  which  require  to  be  received  in  a  spirit  ditTeient 
from  the  express  letter,  would  occupy  more  labor  and  re- 
search than  is  the  privilege  of  my  reader's  blind  afflicted 
servant,  and  the  motives  which  have  drav^n  forth  present 
explanations,  have  first  been  prompted  to  turn  the  tables 
on  those  who  have  dared  to  declare  that  Solomon's  as- 
sertion as  to  training  up  children,  &c.,  given  to  him  by 
divine  inspiration  was  false,  and  secondly,  to  show  the 
wisdom  of  those  mothers,  who  early  endeavor  to  instruct 
or  teach  their  children  to  follow  their  Creator's  directions, 
free  from  the  seed  of  infidelity  or  scepticism.  It  is  o 
be  fear-ed  that  parents  and  instructors  do  not  attach  suffi- 
cient importance  to  the  word  train,  in  educating  their  oflT- 
spring,  leaving  precept  (with  imitating  in  example  the 
faithful  patriarch  Abraham,  an  allusion  to  whom  has  al- 
-  ready  been  made)  in  part  if  not  entire  to  the  work. 
§?•  Having  already  stated  that  habit,  though  slow,  strength- 
ens with  our  years,  and  those  which  are  indirectly  as  well 
as  directly,  with  prompt  correction  on  the  part  of  parents 
without  indulging  in  any  false  notion  of  tenderness,  as 
chronicled  in  the  1st  book  of  Samuel  in  relation  to  Eli 
and  his  house. 

Behold  the  children  of  Eli  und  the  child  of  Hannah! 
The  venerable  High  Priest,  though  his  heart  yearned  after 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  best  interests  of  his  church,  had 
been  unwilling  to  bestow  upon  them  proper  discipline 
which  could  alone  control  their  strong  and  unholy  pro- 
pensities. When  informed  of  their  evil  doings  whereby 
they  defiled  the  sanctuary,  he  laid  upon  them  no  whole- 
some or  salutary  restraint,  but  with  a  foolish  weakness  left 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  31 

them  with  a  partial  rebuke  to  pass  on  in  the  causes  of  sin, 
"  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,"  and 
when  at  length  the  patience  of  God  is  exhausted,  how 
tremendous  was  that  curse,  which  like  the  bolt  of  Hea- 
ven, fell  upon  them. 

"  I  will  judge  the  house  of  Eli  for  ever,  because  his 
children  made  themselves  vile  and  he  restrained  them 
not." 

Does  not  this  example  stand  as  an  awful  beacon  to 
warn  the  world  of  God's  displeasure  of  a  neglect  of  pa- 
rental discipline  and  instruction. 

How  beautiful  is  the  contrast  afforded  in  the  son  of 
Hannah,  that  child  for  whom  she  prayed  and  who  had 
been  given  to  her  by  the  Lord,  she  lent  him  as  long  as  he 
lived.  She  regarded  him  as  a  sacred  trust  wdiieh  she 
must  train  up  for  God — with  maternal  tenderness  she  , 
watched  over  the  early  developments  of  his  character 
with  faithful  and  pious  instructions,  guided  him  in  the 
way  of  holiness,  and  how  great  must  have  been  her  re- 
ward when  she  felt  as  all  Israel,  that  he  was  appointed  of 
the  land  for  a  Prophet. 

Again  behold  in  these  examples  the  result  of  parental 
fidelity  and  faithfulness,  the  child  of  that  humble  Israel- 
ite is  made  the  means  of  communicating  to  Eli  the  awful 
designs  of  Jehovah  towards  him,  who,  though  the  High 
Priest  of  the  Lord,  neglected  parental  duties,  and  brought 
down  on  himself  and  his  guilty  household  the  vengeance 
of  Heaven ;  difficulties  often  arise  in  the  proper  training 
of  a  child  from  whence  better  things  should  be  expected 
— for  instance,  a  father  while  correcting  an  incorrigible 
son  receives  an  interference  on  the  part  of  the  mother, 
who  declares  in  the  presence  of  the  child,  the  infliction 
not  just,  and  therefore  unnecessary,  and  by  reversing  the 
order,  the  father  steps  in  the  same  way  between  the 
child  and  mother,  and  such  a  course  of  conduct  on  the 
part  of  the  parent  must  materially  lessen  if  not  entirely 
destroy  the  efficacy  of  the  intended  remedy  (for  children 
are  invariably  fond  of  having  restraint  removed),  and  un- 
less there  was  a  direct  act  of  inhumanity  or  cruelty,  no 
interference  by  either  party  should  exist,  and  where  just 
censure  is  attributable,  let  it  be  made  known  in  a  mild 
and  proper  manner  without  the  knowledge  of  the  child. 

Children  when  young,  in  general  are  more  ardent  in 


32  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

their  love  for  the  mother  than  the  father,  and  often  a  mis- 
guided reciprocity  on  the  part  of  the  former  defeats  the 
salutary  advice  of  the  latter,  and  thus  in  an  unexpected 
hour  plunges  the  offspring  into  a  vortex  of  irretrievable 
ruin. 

The  Author  of  our  holy  religion  declares  that  a  "  House 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand,"  and  daily  experience 
and  observation  verifies  this  divine  assertion,  which  can 
in  many  instances  be  traced  to  an  unfortunate,  hasty  and 
inconsiderate  connexion  growing  out  of  the  marriage 
contract. 

A  few  remarks  on  this  divine  as  well  as  civil  institu- 
tion, I  trust  will  not  be  considered  an  unpardonable  di- 
gression from  the  subject  more  directly  under  considera- 
tion. 

The  female,  restrained  in  our  own  country  by  an  arbi- 
trary law,  is  denied  the  privilege  of  making  the  first  ad- 
vance in  selecting  a  partner  who  is  to  share  with  her  in 
future  life  those  joys  which  rest  on  the  rose's  bud,  or  on 
the  downy  pillow,  or  with  her  to  labor  at  the  oar  of  ad- 
versity in  crossing  life's  tempestuous  ocean. 

Man,  therefore,  approaches  with  all  his  lordly  power, 
too  often  alone  directed  by  the  eye  in  beholding  superfi- 
cial beauties,  and  not  until  often  he  is  victimized  by  his 
own  suicidal  hands  upon  Hymen's  altar,  does  he  discover 
the  partner  of  his  choice  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing — 
why — because  external  attractions  have  clouded  and 
eclipsed  an  otherwise  sober  discriminating  judgment, 
which  would  have  sought  after  hidden  intellectual  beauties, 
unlike  the  former,  would  have  brightened  and  strengthen- 
ed with  their  growth,  and  like  a  happy  Palemon  and  a 
lovely  Lavinia,  with  a  numerous  offspring  bid  defiance  to 
the  storms  and  tempests  which  toss  on  the  waves  of  time- 
Perfect  concord  and  agreement  between  husband  and 
wife  is  intimately  connected  with  a  correct  or  sound  edu- 
cation of  a  child,  and  a  man  who  enjoys  the  advantage  of 
a  good  education  should  never  connect  himself  by  mar- 
riage to  an  ignorant  woman;  vice  versa,  a  well  educated 
woman  should  never  throw  herself  in  the  arms  of  an  ig- 
noramus. 

In  seeking  spiritual  blessings  we  are  commanded  no* 
to  be  unequally  yoked,  likewise  so  properly  to  train  up 
a  child,  let  its  parents  be  equally  yoked  as  to  intellectual 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  33 

endowments,  and  here  permit  the  mention  of  a  case  in 
point  coming-  directly  unnder  my  observation. 

A  young  man  scarcely  twenty-two  years  old,  possessed 
of  an  easy  competency — family  connexions  of  the  first 
order,  and  whose  father  was  one  of  the  most  learned  inen 
of  his  day,  and  had  spared  no  pains  to  place  his  son  upon 
the  same  pinnacle  of  literature  as  on  that  which  he  (the 
father)  stood  arrested. 

Sire  deceased — the  young  man  sojourned  into  a  distant 
land  where,  regardless  of  a  poetic  effusion  (which  he  had 
often  read  in  relation  to  isolated  external  embellishments), 
"  Women  when  unadorned  adorned  the  most,"  gave  his 
hand  in  marriage  to  a  young  lady  not  sixteen  years  old 
— the  symmetry  of  w^hose features  was  not  surpassed  by  any 
of  her  sex,  but  unfortunately  losing  her  parents  when 
but  about  two  years  old,  and  through  the  abandonment  of 
an  elder  and  only  sister  she  was  left  an  orphan,  friendless 
and  forlorn  to  dwell  in  a  section  of  country  where  little 
or  no  interest  w'as  taken  in  improving  the  intellect  by 
means  of  a  teacher,  whose  proficiency  even  in  orthogra- 
phy was  not  sufficient  to  direct  him  in  spelling  tlie  word 
Constitution  without  employing  a  K,  consequently  the 
lady  marrying  unlettered  had  no  taste  to  improve  her  mind 
in  after  life. 

During  twenty-five  years  of  her  married  life,  she  pre- 
sented to  her  husband  eight  living  children,  five  of  whom 
had  at  different  times,  during  the  absence  of  the  husband 
been  placed  out  as  servants  or  kitchen  scullions  (the 
menial  duties  of  which  will  be  treated  upon  in  subsequent 
pages  of  this  little  v;ork,  as  highly  honorable  and  com- 
mendable when  connected  with  the  duties  of  their  own 
household).  In  opposition  to  the  father's  will,  who,  en- 
deavoring to  educate,  or  cause  to  be  properly  instructed 
had  expended  by  such  opposition  thrice  the  sum  it  other- 
wise would  have  cost. 

The  children  growing  up  rarely  lost  an  opportunity  to 
insult  their  father,  and  when  by  him  reproved  the  mother 
would  order  both  to  stop,  declaring  she  wanted  no  more 
of  their  contentions,  which  request,  if  based  on  a  hope  of 
restoring  good  order  was  also  visionary — the  die  was  cast, 
and  five  of  the  eldest  cliildren  like  Absalom  put  them- 
selves in  battle  array,  contrary  to  the  authority  of  whole- 
some and  salutary  cou-nsel  from  their  father,  and  thus  led 
2* 


34  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

on  by  an  ignorant  mother,  and  an  extra  supply  of  clothing 
clandestinely  furnished,  encomag-ed  her  eldest  son  to  flee 
his  home  and  seek  protection  from  the  aunt  just  named, 
who  destitute  of  the  natural  claims  of  those  affections 
which  has  to  course  the  veins  of  consanguinity,  lost  no 
time  in  obtaining  employment  for  her  nephew,  (hen  scarce- 
ly fifteen  years  old,  as  a  conductor  of  a  cross  country  mail 
in  a  one  horse  wagon,  announcing  his  approach  to  each 
respective  [)Ost-of!ice  by  thrilling  blast  from  a  tin  horn  ; 
and  as  large  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow,  this  son  in  less 
than  tliree  years  afterwards  graduated  with  the  full  honors 
of  a  four  horse  stage  driver,  the  proper  grooming  of  which 
animals  had  formed  within  him  on  the  Sabbath  day,  a 
greater  delight,  for  a  curry-comb  than  the  Bible. 

The  father,  after  more  than  two  years  fruitless  search 
for  this  truant  son,  and  attended  with  heavy  expenses, 
once  more  embraces  his  first  born  under  the  parental  roof, 
and  giving  vent  to  sorrow  mingled  with  joy  in  strains  of 
the  psalmists  :  "  My  son,  my  son,  would  God  I  had  died 
for  thee  ;"  "  did  I  not  early  teach  5'^ou  when  riding  in  a 
coach  never  to  ride  outside  as  the  postillion,  but  inside  as 
the  owner,  in  which  latter  place  or  position  you  would  be 
entitled  to  eat  at  the  first  table,  whereas  the  former  would 
force  you  by  custom  of  our  land  to  eat  in  the  kitchen  with 
ostlers  and  boot-blacks."  That  which  was  intended  by 
the  father  as  wholesome  reproof,  the  jnother  could  not  ap- 
preciate, and  declared  in  presence  of  the  returning  prodi- 
gal that  his  course  had  been  honest,  and  therefore  honor- 
able and  perfectly  free  from  censure. 

The  second  son,  it  is  believed,  joined  a  company  of 
strolling  gypsies  in  the  far  wilds  of  the  west,  who  with 
all  the  other  children  (save  one)  in  after  days,  separated 
from  the  father  and  scattered  over  many  States  of  our 
union,  professing  and  practising  like  a  Caleb  Quotem, 
many  trades,  but  master  of  none. 

But  to  return  more  directly  to  my  original  purpose. 

Wholesome  and  salutary  advice  is  often  seriously  poi- 
soned by  an  unwarrantable  interference  on  the  part  of 
some  bystanders,  in  whose  veins  run  not  one  drop  of  blood 
existing  between  the  parent  and  child,  which  may  be 
traced  to  tvvo  sources,  first  those  who  possess  a  kind  of 
restlessness,  and  who  are  never  happy  or  contented  unless 
they  are  paying  more  attention  to  the  affairs  of  others  than 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  35 

to  their  own ;  and,  secondly,  another  class  who  are 
prompted  by  the  tenderest  and  purest  motives  still  unwise 
and  uncalled  for,  causing  blighting-  and  withering  influ- 
ence on  the  mind  of  the  child. 

To  better  illustrate  the  latter  interference  I  will  take  A. 
for  a  father,  B.  for  a  son,  and  C.  for  a  bystander. 

A.  commands  B,  to  depart  for  his  school,  which  is  so 
far  obeyed  as  to  place  B.  about  ten  rods  beyond  the  gate 
which  opened  into  the  yard  immediately  fronting  his  dwell- 
ing. B.  sets  down  to  spin  his  top,  or  shoot  with  marbles, 
A.,  in  a  voice  sufficiently  loud  to  be  heard  by  B.,  again 
commands  departure  for  school,  and  like  the  first  disobey- 
ed ;  whereupon  A.,  not  a  little  excited  at  this  disobedience, 
advances  towards  the  child  with  a  small  stick  or  rod  in  his 
hand,  threatening  at  the  same  time  its  infliction  on  his 
back  unless  he  forthwith  promptly  obey  the  command  for 
school.  Up  steps  Mr.  C.  and  says — "  Mr.  A.  you  should 
not  scold  your  little  boy,  or  threaten  to  flog  him,  for  he 
would  go  to  school  without  it,  as  I  know  he  is  a  very  good 
little  boy." 

A  comment  to  show  indiscretion,  nay,  cruelty  on  the 
part  of  C.  is  unnecessary,  for  the  most  superficial  observer 
(even  if  the  father  had  been  indulging  in  an  undue  ebulli- 
tion of  passion),  must  acknowledge  it  would  have  been 
better  for  the  child,  if  the  admonition  of  Mr.  C.  had  been 
made  to  Mr.  A.  in  absence  of  B.,  who  now,  in  connexion 
with  his  previous  inclination,  believes  that  his  sire  was 
wrong,  and  thereby  doubly  disposed  to  contemn  and  des- 
pise his  future  commands  or  requirements. 

In  the  case  of  Eli  just  named,  neither  the  page  of  sacred 
nor  profane  history  furnishes  any  mitigating  ^circumstances 
whereby  he  was  hindered  or  prevented  from  a  timely  and 
proper  restraint  of  his  children  through  the  instrumentali- 
ty of  a  third  person,  but  solely  arising  out  of  his  own  mis- 
taken views  as  respects  true  parental  tenderness. 


36  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


In  speaking  of  correction  I  deem  it  proper  here  to  say, 

that  it  should  never  be  inflicted  by  a  parent  under  an  ini- 

\  proper  influence  or  anger,  but  always  endeavor  as  far  as 

'  possible,  first  to  convince  the  child's  understanding  as  to 

the  justness  of  the  inflictions,  which  as  to  mode  and  degree 

cannot  be  too  seriously  considered. 

The  rod  by  some  has  been  met  with  entire  disappro- 
bation, contending  that  punishment  of  a  milder  form 
proves  more  salutary  and  lasting  in  prompting  to  duty, 
whereas  the  former,  like  a  spur  of  the  moment  may  seem 
to  stimulate  proper  action,  but  soon  its  benefits  are  no 
longer  discoverable,  from  the  fact,  that  the  child  has  been 
taught  by  the  frequent  lash  to  feel  itself  degraded,  and 
thus  not  only  the  mental  but  physical  energies  palsied  and 
unfitted  for  the  seed  of  laudable  emulation,  which  latter 
course  should  be  encouraged  in  the  mind  of  a  child  instead 
of  being  depressed. 

But  there  are  cases  where  the  use  of  the  rod  is  indis- 
pensable, and  I  have  already  alluded  to  it  in  the  stage  of 
infancy  where  the  child  assumes  airs  of  a  buffoon,  in  its 
ground  and  lofty  tumblings  on  the  floor. 

In  giving  vent  to  unhallowed  passions,  and  in  recom- 
mending the  rod,  I  do  it  under  divine  sanction  as  a  dernier 
ressort  to  reclaim  the  wicked  or  incorrigible  child,  where 
gentler  means  have  failed  to  produce  reformation,  and  the 
many  instances  witnessed  where  mild  means  had  proved 
imsuccessful,  no  doubt  spring  from  a  want  of  punctuality 
on  the  part  of  parents  or  instructors  to  inflict,  or  else  the 
promised  punishment  is  so  extravagant,  that  even  a  child 
six  3'ears  old  of  the  meanest  capacity  would  know  that  it 
dare  not  be  inflicted.  In  order  better  to  illustrate  my 
views  in  relation  to  the  many  dangers  to  which  a  child 
may  be  subjected,  for  the  want  of  punctuality  on  the  part 
of  parents,  and  to  show  a  case  of  foolish  extravagance,  I 
beg  leave  to  mention  an  anecdote  of  two  boys  playing  on 
the  floor,  while  thfe  mother  was  at  the  tub  washing  the 
family  clothing.  The  oldest  boy  is  said  to  have  cried 
out,  "  Mara,  Bill  is  pinchen  me  !    Upon  which  the  mother 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  37 

turned  round  and,  addressing  herself  to  the  little  offender, 
said,  "  Billy,  don't  you  pinch  your  brother  again,  if  you 
do,  it  will  not  be  well  for  you,  for  I  will  give  you  such  a 
trouncing  as  you  will  remember  all  the  days  of  your 
life." 

A  few  minutes  only  elapsed  and  the  complainant  re- 
peated his  charge.  "  Mam,  Bill  pinches  me  again." 
Upon  which  the  mother  seized  a  tin-dipper,  and  plunging 
the  same  in  a  pot  of  boiling  water,  snatched  a  knife  from 
the  dresser,  brings  it  forth,  and,  in  a  menacing  attitude 
towards  the  accused,  declared  at  the  top  of  her  voice, 
"  Billy,  did  I  not  just  tell  you  that  if  you  pinched  your 
brother  a  second  time  I  would  give  you  such  a  flogging 
as  you  would  remember  all  the  days  of  your  life  ?  now, 
rest  assured,  if  I  hear  of  your  pinching  your  brother  a 
third  time,  I  will  scald  you  with  this  hot  water,  and 
afterwards  skin  you  as  I  w^ould  a  dog !" 

A  minute,  only,  elapsed,  when  the  eldest  boy  cried  out, 
"Mam,  Bill  pinches  me  again."  Whereupon  the  mother 
became  enraged  almost  to  distraction,  and  in  order  to  show 
her  high  displeasure  of  such  disobedience  and  full  deter- 
mination not  to  let  it  go  impunished,  pulled  locks  of  hair 
from  her  head,  stamped  her  right  foot  upon  the  floor,  and 
then,  in  a  voice  almost  resembling  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  ex- 
claimed, "  Billy,  did  I  not  just  tell  you  that  if  you  pinched 
your  brother  a  third  time  I  would  scald  you  and  afterwards 
skin  you  alive  like  a  dog  1  and  all  that  I  have  now  to  say 
to  you  is,  that  if  I  hear  of  your  pinching  your  brother  a 
fourth  time  I  will  tell  your  father  of  you." 

Although  the  mother  had  in  connexion  with  promised 
punishment  flashed,  as  it  were,  lightning  from  her  eyes, 
showed  the  boiling  water,  flourished  the  deadly  steel, 
dragged  hairs  from  her  head,  with  violence  stamped  the 
floor,  and  screamed  with  a  terrific  voice  sufficient  to 
awake  the  lion  from  his  lair,  still  not  a  nerve  w^as  moved 
on  the  part  of  the  little  offender,  who,  on  the  contrary, 
coolly  observed  to  his  brother  (complainant),  "  Mam  has 
told  three  lies  right  off  in  quick  succession,  and  I  don't 
believe  one  word  she  has  said  or  will  say,  and,  therefore, 
I  will  give  you  one  confounded  big  pinch." 

Sane  persons  are  always  considered  as  acting  from  mo- 
tive, whether  it  be  good  or  evil,  while  the  insane  are  con- 
trarily  actuated  or  governed,  and  it  is  not  a  little  to  be 


38  PARENXr,    AND    CHILDREN. 

rep^retted  that  mothers  wno  have  received  opportunities  in 
their  education  of  a  refined  cast,  far  superior  to  the 
wretched  one  just  described  (who  threatened  to  scald  her 
son  and  afterwards  skin  him  alive),  should  to  their  infants, 
while  dandling  them  on  their  laps,  indulge  in  trifling 
and  unmeaning  expressions,  such  as  "  Mamraie's  pitty 
— itty — litty — sweety — nicy — charmy — tiny  lammy,"  or 
if  they  do  not  indulge  in  such  nonsensical  or  frivolous 
expressions,  often  to  hush  the  capricious  cry  of  their  child 
or  as  opiates  to  quell  pains  of  reality,  threaten  to  cast  their 
offspring  to  the  hogs,  or  else  cry  out  for  the  dog. 

"  Here,  Ring  !  Here,  Ring  !  come  take  Johnny — with 
the  old  tom  cat,  bulls,  bears,  lions,  panthers,  screech 
owls,  wizards,  ghosts,  hob-goblins,  and  bugbears,"  to- 
gether with  an  array  of  demons  more  dreadful  than  ever 
presented  themselves  to  the  poor  drunkard  while  laboring 
under  a  paroxysm  of  delirium  tremens. 

And  not  a  few  mothers  justify  themselves  by  declaring 
the  child  too  young  to  understand  or  comprehend  what 
they  say  ;  if  so,  then  mothers  acknowledge  themselves 
insane,  but  the  contrary  is  the  fact,  else  why  does  the 
child  become  quiet  ?  evidently  from  fear,  and  although 
tQO  young  to  remember  or  recite  the  unmeaning  threaten- 
•"  ing  words  of  the  mother  in  after  years,  yet  awful  period- 
ical aberrations  of  the  mind  have  followed  it  down  to 
to  the  grave,  even  at  the  advanced  age  of  threescore  and 
ten. 

Punctuality  in  business  has  ever  been  considered  as 
important  to  its  success  as  the  main-spring  of  a  watch  is 
in  regulating  its  movements,  and  as  promises  of  reward 
often  have  a  better  tendency  to  stimulate  a  child  than  the 
rod,  parents  and  teachers  should  as  sacredly  redeem  their 
promises  under  this  head  as  they  would  execute  threat- 
ened punishment.    * 

Intending  in  subsequent  pages,  however,  to  present 
further  yie\vs  under  several  distinct  heads,  as  to  what  I 
conceive  essential  or  important  in  the  proper  training  up 
of  children,  necessity  will  again  force  me  into  the  nur- 
sery, where  many  duties  attached  to  the  important  station 
of  parents  (especially  mothers)  will  be  duly  considered; 
begging  leave  here  once  more  to  say  that  education  forms 
within  the  mind  a  kind  of  second  nature,  and  so  powerful 
has  it  manifested  itself  even  in  the  ranks  of  Jhe  middle- 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  39 

aged  as  well  as  those  of  childhood,  that  we  find  not  un- 
frequently,  the  bonds  of  both  conjugal  and  parental  love 
severed,  with  all  the  ties  of  consanguinity  immolated  under 
the  cracking  and  crushing  wheels  of  the  car  of  Jugger- 
naut. 

Or  else  a  mother  committing  her  infant  to  the  devour- 
ing jaws  of  a  crocodile,  whose  capricious  tears  she 
believes  flow  for  an  offence  committed  by  her  against 
some  idol  whom  she  falsely  worshipped  as  a  god,  and  to 
appease  which,  considers  duty  demands  the  sacrifice  of 
her  child. 

Or  the  vfife  believing  it  a  sacred  duty,  commits  her 
body  to  the  burning  fagot,  and  on  the  funeral  pile  ex- 
pires with  her  also  falsely  educated  and  deluded  husband. 

And  the  early  principles  instilled  in  the  mind  of  a 
child,  have,  in  after  years,  even  in  old  age,  so  developed 
themselves,  as  not  only  to  change  the  order  of  natural 
aflPections,  but  to  render  it  a  cosmopolite  or  citizen  of  the 
world,  at  the  expense  of  those  feelings  which  flow  more 
immediately  in  channels  of  their  own  native  land.  And 
although  this  cosmopolite  may  boast  of  his  or  her  phi- 
lanthropy, distrust  their  sincerity  so  long  as  they  fail  or 
neglect  to  discharge  those  natural  duties  which  flow  from 
the  tie  of  consanguinity. 

The  natural  man  is  everything  with  himself,  and  has 
justly  been  styled  a  numerical  unit,  an  absolute  integer 
that  bears  no  relation  but  to  himself  or  his  species,  while 
the  civilized  man  is  a  relative  unit,  the  numerator  of  a 
fraction  that  depends  on  its  denominator  and  the  whole 
value  consists  in  its  relation  to  the  integral  body  of  socie- 
ty, and  also  a  child  may  be  so  trained  as  in  after  life  to 
totally  disregard  the  sufferings,  or  to  rejoice  in  the  happi- 
ness of  its  fellow  man  in  other  climes  than  that  of  its  own 
native  land  ;  and  in  some  instances,  so  ardent  has  the 
love  of  nativity  been  carried,  that  self-preservation  (na- 
ture's firgt  and  general  law),  has  been  so  disregarded  as 
not  even  to  claim  a  secondary  thought. 

The  selfish  views  which  too  greatly  characterize  the  - 
present  political  age  in  almost  every  land,  would  illy' 
comport  with  the  Lacedemonian  Paedaretes,who  presented 
himself  for  admission  in  the  council  of  the  Hundred,  was 
rejected,  returned  home  rejoicing  that  there  were  to  be 
found  in  vSparta  thi'ee  hundred  better  men  than  himself. 


40  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

Admit  the  demonstrations  of  this  man's  joy  sincere,  as 
there  is  no  room  to  believe  they  were  not,  we  prove  him 
a  true  citizen  of  his  countrymen. 

Ao;ain,  the  page  of  History  declares  that  a  woman  of 
Sparta  having  five  sons  in  the  army,  and  being  in  hourly 
expectation  of  a  battle,  a  messenger  at  length  arrived,  of 
whom  she  trembling  asked  the  news.  "  Your  five  sons," 
said  he,  "  are  slain  ;"  upon  which  the  woman  vehemently 
exclaimed,  -'  Vile  slave,  who  asked  you  of  my  sons  V 
"  But  we  have  gained  the  victory,"  continued  he  ;  this 
was  enough  ;  the  heroic  mother  ran  to  the  temple  and 
gave  thanks  to  the  gods.  Though  the  conduct  of  this 
mother  under  certain  qualifications  vmight  adorn  the 
ensign  of  any  nation,  still  it  shows  an  absence  or  want 
of  those  benign  influences  of  Christianity  which  better 
prompts  the  mother's  bosom,  and  spurns  to  appease  with 
human  life  the  capricious  cries  of  a  crocodile. 

Daily  experience  and  observation  teaches  that  we  are 
greatly  the  children  of  circumstance,  and  where  a  child 
is  not  blessed  with  parents  strictly  by  profession,  walk- 
ing within  the  pale  of  the  true  church  militant,  yet 
such  is  the  wholesome  influence  of  Christianity,  that 
men  (unless  open  and  avowed  reprobates)  dare  not  other- 
wise than  practise  it.  Morality,  which,  although  it  is  not 
genuine  religion,  still  it  is  one  of  its  brightest  concomi- 
tants, and  when  properly  brought  to  bear  by  example 
upon  the  education  of  a  child,  beautifully  illustrates  the 
saying  of  a  celebrated  dramatist,  "How  far  a  little  can- 
dle throws  its  beams,  so  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty 
world,"  and  as  the  sentiments  of  reverence  has  justly 
been  declared  by  an  eminent  female  writer  on  the  educa- 
tion of  children,  as  one  of  the  noblest  attributes  of  the 
human  mind,  affixing  an  exquisite  sense  of  enjoyment,  it 
operates  in  a  thousand  ways  to  elevate  and  embellish  the 
character.  Its  first  development  is  in  the  feelings  of  a 
child  for  its  parents,  and  this  is  the  natural  preparation 
of  the  mind,  for  its  rise  is  to  a  higher  object,  even  to  the 
Father  of  Heaven. 

As  the  understanding  ripens,  and  this  sentiment  is 
cultivated,  it  embraces  all  that  is  vast  and  magnificent  in 
nature,  and  in  art,  shedding  over  the  character  of  its 
professor  an  indescribable  grace,  softening  the  very  tones 
and  rendering  it  impossible  for  the  manners  to  be  wanting 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  41 

in  deference  and  courtesy  towards  parents,  teachers,  or 
the  aged  of  any  description. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  bring  a  child  up  to  this  desired 
standard  of  reverential  respect,  both  the  father  and   rao-1 
ther  must,  at  all  times,  in  their  family  walk  circumspectly,} 
whether  in  or  out  of  doors,  else  precept  will   be  of  little 
or  no  avail. 

To  enumerate  in  detail  all  the  various  duties  of  parents 
would  occupy  the  labor  far  beyond  the  present  design  ; 
still,  I  beg  leave  to  mention  a  few  here,  reserving  others 
for  subsequent  pages. 

In  order  for  parents  to  secure  respect  from  their  children 
(as  in  every  other  intercourse  with  society)  they  must 
first  respect  themselves,  and  show  by  their  daily  walk  and 
conversation,  as  just  intimated,  that  they  are  as  they 
would  have  their  offspring. 

Parents   who  would  avoid    rearing  their  children    as  \ 
calumniators  or  slanderers  must  be  careful  how"  they  speak  i 
evil  of  others,  particularly  those  who  are  absent,  a  habit  | 
only   indulged   in   by  the    vicious,    low,    illiterate,    and 
cowardly. 

A  good  and  virtuous  man  if  he  can  say  nothing  favor- 
able of  his  neighbors  spurns  the  mentioning  of  evil,  as 
he  would  an  armed  coward  rushing  on  a  defenceless  foe. 

Shakspeare  says, 

"  On  eagle's  wings  immortal  scandals  fly, 
While  virtuous  acts  alone  are  born  to  die." 

And  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  in  many  parts  of  our  highly 
favored  land  many  parents  spend  their  social  and  do- 
mestic evenings  slandering  and  vilifying  their  neighbors, 
and  so  keen  has  their  appetite  been  wdietted  up  by  prac- 
tice, that  they  take  occasion  on  the  Sabbath-day,  which 
denies  them  manual  labor,  to  stroll  about  from  neighbor's 
to  neighbor's,  or  else  congregate  on  the  margin  of  some 
stream  of  water,  loll  on  logs,  rocks,  or  stones,  breathing 
forth  mischief  and  slander  against  some  innocent,  unof- 
fending absentees,  whose  higher  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  strict  attention  to  matters  only  of  their  own,  form 
the  sole  ground  for  these  unprovoked  and  wanton  calum- 
nies, or  attacks,  upon  his,  or  her,  character. 

The  celebrated  dramatist  just  alluded  to,  in  further 
speaking  of  the  slanderer  says, 


1 


42  PARENTS    AXl)    CIIILDREN. 

"  Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash,  'tis  something — notliing, 
'Twas  mine,  'tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands. 
Rut  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name, 
Hobs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him. 
But  makes  me  poor  indeed." 

In  our  Savior's  speaking  of  defilement,  he  declares  in 
the  15th  chapter  of  Matthew  and  11th  verse,  "  It  is  that 
which  Cometh  out  of  the  mouth  that  defileth  the  rnan, 
because  it  comes  from  the  hearl"  (here  the  heart  is  to  be 
understood  as  alluding  to  the  mind,  and  not  that  organ, 
as  already  stated  in  a  former  part  of  this  work,  which 
regulates  our  real  life).  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  clear 
divine  assertion,  we  not  unfrequently  find  parents  who 
openly  profess  to  have  experienced  the  renovating  in- 
fluence of  divine  grace,  speaking  before  their  children 
against  their  neighbors  in  language  not  only  disrespectful 
but  couched  in  obscenity  sufficient  to  shock  the  inmates  of 
the  lewdest  and  most  abandoned  brothels. 

If  a  father  would  have  his  children  honor  and  respect 
their  mother,  or  prove  to  the  world  that  he  is  a  gentleman, 
let  him  by  example  ever  address  that  wife  in  language  as 
chaste  as  he  did  before  he  received  her  hand  in  marriage. 

I  have  already  alluded  to  the  importance  of  some  of 
those  obligations  which  exist  in,  or  grow  out  of,  the  mar- 
riage contract,  and  while  I  may  be  charged  with  having 
attached  too  great  a  severity  to  husbands  on  account  of 
disrespectful  language  to  their  wives  before  strangers — 
charity  proceeds  (notwithstanding  deep  wounds  may 
have  been  inflicted)  not  intentional,  but  growing  out  of 
thoughtlessness,  and  this  latter  position  reminds  me  of 
two  pictures,  executed  in  view  of  social  happiness. 

The  first  representing  a  young  gentleman  and  his  in- 
tended bride.  And  agreeing  to  a  short  perambulation 
through  an  orchard,  with  a  promenade  around  the  garden 
near  the  dwelling  ;  the  suitor,  with  all  the  gallantry  of  a 
true  lover,  is  represented  as  coming  up  to  a  pair  of  bars, 
which,  one  after  the  other,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  rail, 
he  completely  removed. 

The  second  picture,  one  year  after  marriage,  represents 
a  walk  over  the  same  ground  as  the  former,  but,  instead 
of  removing  barriers,  as  before,  he  is  seen  ten  or  fifteen 
rods  in  advance,  while  his  wife,  with  a  child  in  her  arms, 
is  climbing  over  the  bars  as  well  as  she  ca;i. 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  43 

This  may  be  called  unintentional  neglect,  still,  inex- 
cusable, for  as  his  wife  she  was  entitled  to  more  attention 
after  than  before  marriage,  and  although  the  example 
here  could  have  no  effect  on  the  babe  at  the  present  time, 
still,  a  continuance  of  the  same  course  of  conduct  must, 
in  after  years,  more  or  less  poison  that  filial  and  respectful 
affections  due  from  offspring  to  the  mother. 

In  promoting  a  healthy,  early  education  of  a  child, 
circumspection,  both  in  language  and  deportment  on  the 
pai't  of  the  mother,  in  all  her  domestic  concerns,  is  of 
equal,  if  not  of  more,  importance  than  that  of  the  father, 
as  I  have  deprecated  obscenity  on  the  part  of  the  latter, 
far  more  disgusting  does  it  appear  in  the  former,  as  their 
very  sex  endorses  chastity  and  refinement. 

Man  when  he  blushes  shows  guilt,  but  in  the  female  it 
is  the  brightest  ensign  of  innocence  and  virtue.  But 
when  gossiping  from  house  to  house,  scattering  the  fire- 
brands of  mischief,  by  relating  in  false  colors  and  foul 
language  every  little  incident  or  occurrence  which  she 
per  chance  may  have  collected  through  an  unsuspecting 
neighbor,  is  a  disgrace  to  her  sex. 

A  mother  at  home,  chaste  at  all  times  in  her  speech, 
modest  in  attire,  and  diligent  in  a  well-timed  systematic 
arrangement  of  her  household,  more  nobly  fills  the 
station  assigned  to  her,  than  Queen  Victoria  on  her 
throne,  or  any  other  mother  who  personally  neglects  to 
perform  almost  every  branch  of  house  keeping,  even  to 
the  natural  and  honorable  office  of  washing  and  dressing 
her  own   child. 

It  is  said  of  Dr.  Franklin,  that  on  learning  his  sister's 
intention  to  change  her  state  of  celibacy,  he  promised 
when  married  to  give  her  a  very  pretty  present.  The  con- 
summation of  her  marriage  completed,  soon  directed  her 
thoughts  to  the  promised  present  from  him  whom  she  knew 
always  held  it  a  sacred  duty  to  fulfil  every  engagement,  so 
far  as  Providence  would  permit,  and  thus  commenced  to 
ask  herself:  "Can  it  be  a  set  of  golden  ear-rings — a  neck- 
lace— a  finger-ring — a  dress  of  chintz?"  certainly  not, 
these  are  too  small  and  trifling  to  fill  the  measure  of  my 
brother's  love  and  generosity  ;  he  intends  no  doubt  to 
present  me  with  a  beautiful  and  costly  set  of  silver 
plate,  or  else  a  splendid  piano-forte. 
•    The  gift  as  promised,  came,  but  oh!  who  can  imagine 


44  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

the  chagrin  and  mortification  of  the  sister,  who  wishing 
to  appear  fashionable  in  her  newly  married  state,  with- 
out any  regard  for  economy  or  thought  of  industry,  which 
would  place  her  in  competition  with  Roman  Lucretia,  or 
the  sisters  of  the  greaf  Grecian  Alexander,  found  her 
present  a  spinning-wheel. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

*'  A  WOMAN  was  not  taken  from  a  man's  head  to  rule  him, 
or  his  feet  to  be  trampled  under  foot,  but  from  his  side  as 
a  companion,"  and  none  but  an  uncivilized  Indian 
would  wish  to  see  his  wife  a  beast  of  burthen,  or  liter- 
ally a  hewer  of  wood  and  drawer  of  water,  still  our 
daughters  should  early  be  practically  trained  to  all  do- 
mestic vocations  for  which  a  wife  was  originally  intended, 
and  should  never  be  neglected  so  far  at  least,  as  a  careful 
supervision  is  concerned,  even  where  her  husband  has 
furnished  or  supplied  ample  proxies  to  perform  the  menial 
or  laborious  duties  of  her  house. 

And  there  is  at  the  present  day  a  very  prevalent  and 
fatal  error,  particularly  practised  by  the  wealthy  and 
opulent  in  the  education  of  their  daughters.  Theories 
upon  theories  embracing  every  art  and  science  are  crowd- 
ed upon  the  mind  while  practice  is  but  partially  or  wholly 
disregarded. 

A  young  lady  may  read  a  book  on  chemistry,  treating 
on  the  natural  laws  of  the  fermenting,  ascetic,  and  putrid 
stages  of  vegetable  matter — all  very  well ;  but  without 
practice  she  would  be  apt  to  present  her  husband  with 
but  an  indifferent  or  poor  piece  of  bread.  She  may  the- 
oretically understand  the  action  of  an  alkali  on  a  fixed 
oil,  yet  be  so  ignorant  of  a  practical  experiment  as  to 
forbid  even  a  thought  towards  collecting  ashes  when  her 
servants  make  a  fire,  or  save  the  refuse  tallow  when 
cleaning  a  candle-stick,  whereby  soap  could  be  made 
with  which  to  wash  her  own  clothes. 

A  woman  who  does  not  practically  understand  the 
*'  modus  operandi  "  by  which  her  lixivium  or  soap-suds 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDRKN.  45 

acts  upon  the  greasy  plate  with  an  after  rinsing  in  cold 
water  before  dried  by  a  suitable  cloth,  or  to  cleanse  a 
dinner-pot  in  the  same  manner,  is  unfit  for  the  married 
life,  for  however  a  liberal  or  kind  husband  miy  supply 
his  wife  with  servants,  without  this  practical  knowledge 
she  is  incapable  of  detecting  frauds  committed  by  her 
domestics,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  must  for  ever 
prove  to  him  but  little  better  than  a  quean,  if  not  ruin- 
ous to  his  interest,  besides  incapable  to  meet  him  in  the 
hour  of  adversity,  or  in  a  reverse  of  fortune,  so  as  to 
prove  herself  what  nature's  God  intended — a  help-mate. 
Believing  mothers  too  often  greatly  err  in  neglecting 
domestic  branches  in  the  education  of  their  daughters. 

My  readers  may  charge  me  with  inconsistency,  or 
directly  contradicting  myself,  as  in  former  pages  of  this 
book  I  have  repudiated  training  up  our  children  with  no 
higher  views  than  those  generally  emanating  from 
kitchen  scullions,  or  postillions  ;  either  office  of  which  (as 
already  stated),  would  be  honorable  when  confined  to 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  their  own  family  ;  and  I  would 
even  pass  these  bounds  where  necessity  required,  to 
prevent  idleness,  for  an  idle  mind  is  one  of  the  largest 
establishments  in  which  his  Satanic  Majesty  commences 
and  finishes  all  his  principal  diabolical  works. 

Self-respect  in  a  child  is  intimately  connected  with  its 
future  prosperity  and  success  in  business,  and  where  it  is 
trained  to  eat  in  the  kitchen  while  the  parents  refresh 
themselves  in  the  parlor  with  distinguished  guests,  that 
child  in  after  life  wishing  to  transact  some  business  with 
a  strange  lady  or  gentleman  of  high  distinction,  would 
be  more  likely  to  knock  at  the  kitchen  than  the  parlor 
door. 

Should  the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  all  the 
members  of  his  cabinet,  accept  an  invitation  to  dine  with 
a  private  gentleman  and  his  lady,  having  a  son  and 
daughter  not  over  seven  years  old  ;  let  the  parents  cause 
the  children  to  be  placed  at  the  first  table,  if  there  is 
room,  and  it  causes  no  infringement  upon  the  comfort  and 
happiness  of  their  much  respected  guests,  and  the  adop- 
tion of  this  course  even  in  tenderer  years  of  childhood, 
w^ould  not  only  enable  the  child  in  after  life  to  practise 
and  follow  grace  and  dignity  when  forced  to  the  table  of 
genteel  strangers,  without  the  assistance  of  any  parent  to 


46  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

counsel  or  direct  them,  but  often  prevent  the  infliction  of 
"wounds  deep  and  mortifying  to  the  feelings  of  their  pa- 
rents; and  this  latter  point  reminds  me  of  an  anecdote  of  two 
mothers,  whom,  for  accommodation,  I  shall  call  Mrs.  A, 
and  Mrs.  B.  Mrs.  A  sends  a  written  invitation  to  Mrs. 
B,  requesting  the  company  of  herself  and  daughter  Ma- 
ria, aged  three  years,  to  tea,  the  following  afternoon  ;  the 
invitation  was  accepted,  and  the  parties  duly  meet.  Mrs. 
A  announces  the  readiness  of  the  table,  and  further  re- 
quests Mrs.  B  to  sit  by  and  partake  thereof;  upon  which 
Mrs.  B,  in  a  low  whisper  to  her  daughter  (sitting  in  a 
small  chair  by  her  side),  "  Now  Maria,  like  a  good  girl, 
sit  quietly  until  mamma  finishes  her  tea,  and  then  you 
will  be  permitted  also  to  come  to  the  table."  This 
charge  was  overheard  by  Mrs.  A,  who  requested  Maria's 
immediate  presence  at  the  table,  declaring  that  "  the  com- 
pany of  the  dear  child  formed  not  a  small  part  of  her 
anticipated  and  present  happiness."  Mrs.  B  assures 
.  Mrs.  A  that  the  child  could  just  as  well  wait  as  not,  until 
her  seniors  finished  at  the  first  table,  adding  further,  that 
when  at  home  she  was  seated  at  meal  times  with  the 
second  table.  Mrs.  A  rejoins,  and  as  a  matter  of  favor, 
insisted  on  Maria's  placing  herself  immediately  at  tie 
table  beside  her  mother ;  the  invitation  so  strong,  and 
with  a  desire  to  please,  Maria  takes  her  appointed  station, 
and  before  a  blessing  could  be  asked  she  desired  a  cake, 
and  putting  immediate  action  to  the  w^ord,  seized  one 
from  off  the  plate,  upon  which  her  mother  cried  out, 
"Maria,  put  that  cake  down,"  and  by  force  wrenched  it 
from  her  hand. 

This  first  scene  closed,  a  second  opened,  by  the  child's 
thrusting  its  hand  into  a  dish  of  preserved  quinces,  w^hich 
she  so  managed  as  to  drag  in  part,  nearly  midway  on  the 
table,  embellishing  or  ornamenting  the  cloth  by  the  sac- 
charine drainings  which  she  had  attached  to  her  fingers, 
when  immersed  in  the  preserve  dish  ;  upon  which  Mrs. 
B,  losing  all  her  usual  and  dignified  patience,  screams  out, 
"  dear  me,  why  Maria,  how  you  act  ;  I  never  saw  the 
child  behave  so  before  in  my  life."  Poor  woman,  she 
had  never  taught  her  child  when  at  home  to  behave  other- 
wise. Having  already  hinted  at  some  of  the  benefits 
arising  from  a  proper  domestic  training  of  our  daughters, 
so  as  not  only  to    lead  them   in  paths   of  industry,  but 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  47 

also  in  those  of  frugality  (two  sure  roads  to  wealth).  I 
am  reminded  of  two  brothers  sharing  in  a  large  patri- 
mony— rriarrying  sisters  of  equal  fortune.  The  younger 
brother,  though  not  more  industrious  or  frugal  than  the 
older,  continued  to  thrive,  while  the  elder,  year  after  year 
grew  poorer,  and  by  virtue  of  legal  executions  was  by 
sheriffs  and  constables  stripped  of  all  his  movable 
property,  even  to  the  most  common  conveniences  of  life, 
besides  a  heavy  mortgage  on  his  farm.  A  field  of  about 
five  acres  which  the  elder  brother  had  at  the  proper  sea- 
son sowed  w4th  wheat,  was  subsequently  sold  from  him 
while  growing  in  the  ground,  but  privileged  through  the 
sympathy  of  a  kind  purchaser  to  reap  and  thresh  out, 
^reserving  one-third  of  the  grain  for  such  labor.  The 
season  for  gathering  arrived,  but  having  no  team  to  col- 
lect the  sheaves  in  the  field  and  afterwards  deposit  them 
in  his  barn,  he  applied  to  his  rich  and  younger  brother 
for  the  loan  of  his  team,  who  granted  the  request,  on 
condition  that  he  would  first  help  him  to  finish  his 
(younger  brother's)  harvest,  which  would  take  about  four 
hours.  No  other  alternative,  the  proposition  was  accept- 
ed, and  the  elder  mounting  a  wagon  drawn  by  two  fine, 
noble  horses,  received  the  sheaves  as  pitched  on  by  the 
younger ;  in  the  course  of  which  labor  the  poor  brother 
asked  the  other,  how  or  whence  arose  such  a  difference  in 
the  prosperity  of  their  temporal  affairs,  and  received  the 
following  answer  :  "  I  intend  personally,  this  afternoon, 
to  assist  ybu  in  gathering  in  your  small  crop  of  grain,  which 
when  finished  shall  clearly  demonstrate  the  decline  of 
your  property." 

It  is  a  universal  custom  in  the  grain  or  hay  harvests, 
he  w'ho  pitches  on  the  wagon  is  entitled  to  receive  in 
the  mow.  According  to  this  arrangement,  after  the  elder 
brother  had  pitched  up  his  last  sheaf,  he  was  requested 
by  the  younger  to  come  up  and  see  how  the  grain  was 
stored,  which  being  complied  with,  he  found  to  his  utter 
astonishment  that  there  was  not  a  sheaf  in  the  barn.  The 
elder  passionately  inquired  where  it  was,  whereupon 
the  younger  pleasingly  replied,  "brother,  suffer  not 
anger  on  this  occasion  to  dwell  in  your  bosom,  all  loss 
which  my  present  course  may  occasion,  shall  be  re- 
paired  by  more   than  double  in  value." 

"  This  morning  when  you  applied  for  my  assistance 


/ 


48  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

you  accompanied  your  request  by  expressing  a  surprise 
that  as  we  had  shared  alike  in  patrimony,  and  were 
equally  industrious,  still,  as  I  advanced  in  worldly  wealth 
you  grew  poorer.  I  then  promised  to  assign  the  true 
cause  and  to  give  this  afternoon  an  ocular  demonstration. 
"  As  fast  as  you  pitched  up  the  sheaves  I  cast  them 
out  at  the  back  window,  and  as  fast  as  you  bring  in  at 
the  front  door  your  wife  wastes  or  casts  it  out  at  the  back 
door.  Many  other  reasons  I  could  assign  for  the  retro- 
grade movements  in  your  temporal  affairs,  one  of  which  I 
discovered  in  passing,  this  afternoon,  in  your  swill  barrel 
several  large  pieces  of  bread  and  slices  of  meat  were 
floating,  whereas  my  wife  saves  all  her  stale  bread  (if 
wheat)  for  pudding,  and  although  we  do  not  scant  our* 
children,  still,  when  they  ask  for  bread  and  take  more 
than  they  can,  at  the  same  time,  prudently  eat,  instead  of 
throwing  their  fragments  into  the  swill  barrel  they  are 
carefully  preserved  and  laid  before  that  child  for  its  next 
meal ;  so  in  any  other  article  of  food,  while  the  unhandled 
meat  of  the  dinner  table  is  placed  away  in  a  safe  or 
pantry,  appearing  again  at  tea,  in  small  slices  as  a  relish, 
or  else  hashed  next  morning,  not  unfrequently  with  an 
underlaying  of  toasted  bread.  Our  beverage,  pure  cold 
water,  one  of  God's  greatest  and  best  gifts  to  man. 

'  Which  always  prepares  us  to  meditate  better, 
And  prepares  our  souls  for  better 

Regions  than  here.' 

*'  Every  member  of  our  family  has  a  regular  fixed  time 
in  which  to  discharge  his,  or  her,  respective  duties, 
whether  arising  from  eating,  sleeping,  reading,  recreation, 
or  manual  labor. 

"  While  the  merry  whistle  is  heard  in  the  fields,  so  in 
my  house  is  the  buzzing  spinning-wheel;  hence  my 
granaries  are  richly  stored,  and  my  dwelling  chambers 
present  pile  upon  pile  of  homespun  blankets  and  wearing 
apparel  of  the  same  kind. 

"  In  connexion  with  early  rising  and  exercise  in  the 
open  air,  our  tables  are  almost  entirely  free  from  dainties 
which  follow  in  the  train  of  pastry,  &c.,  and  are  not  only 
expensive,  but  many  articles  in  their  very  nature  indi- 
gestible, and  thereby  enervating,  instead  of  invigorating 
and  strengthening,  the  human  system. 

"  Hence   we    are   all   healthy,   cheerful,   and   robust, 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  49 

whereas  your  wife  caused  her  table  literally  to  groan 
with  the  fat  of  the  land,  partaking  after  dinner  of  a  glass 
of  wane,  ale,  or  cider,  which  acting  as  an  anodyne,  stupi- 
fying  both  mental  and  physical  energies,  from  which  she 
recovers  after  a  short  nap  of  one  or  two  hours,  instead  of, 
Lucretia-like,  spending  the  same  time  at  the  spinning- 
w^heel,  or  superintending  her  servants  in  the  kitchen, 
who  have  been  either  gormandizing  or  else  filling  up  the 
svv^ill  barrel,  when  not  engaged  in  carrying  off  some  pil- 
fered article  to  a  drunken  father  or  mother,  or  poor  dear 
relatives,  too  lazy  to  earn  their  own  bread.  Also  your  wife 
denies  her  sons,  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twelve, 
to  play  out-doors,  without  shoes  or  stockings  on,  while 
mine  (when  the  season  wdll  permit,  and  not  at  school,  or 
otherwise  properly  employed)  are  along  some  part  of  the 
rill  which  passes  both  our  dwellings,  barefooted,  with 
their  trousers  rolled  up  to  their  knees,  carrying  stones  and 
sods  to  form  a  little  dam,  wdiereby  to  erect  a  micic  forge, 
during  which  amusements  I  not  unfrequently  secretly 
steal  a  supervision,  in  order  to  detect  and  correct  any  foul 
language  (if  used). 

"  At  an  early  hour  in  the  evening  all  return  home  each, 
one  properly  cleaning  himself,  and  after  partaking  of  a 
bowl  of  bread,  or  mush  and  milk,  are  called  round  the 
family  altar  in  worship  to  Almighty  God,  after  which  all 
retire  to  their  respective  places  of  rest  during  the  remain- 
der of  the  night,  without  any  distribution  of  cakes  or 
candies.  And  now,  dear  brother,  I  have  affectionately 
and  frankly  answered  your  questions  of  this  morning, 
wherein  you  asked  for  the  cause  of  your  constant  decrease 
in  property  while  I  increased,  and  in  order  that  you  may 
hereafter  more  fully  appreciate  what  I  have  just  intended 
to  convey,  I  close  by  mentioning  to  you  an  anecdote 
between  a  yankee  sailor  and  a  quaker.  The  former 
asked  the  latter  for  a  new  hat  ancl  w'hat  would  be  its 
price,  the  quaker  replied,  '$4.'  The  sailor  rejoined  by  say- 
ing that  was  beyond  its  value  and  insisted  on  a  reduction, 
but  this  was  positively  refused  on  the  part  of  the  quaker  by 
saying,  '  Friend,  as  I  live  I  cannot  let  thee  have  it  less,' 
The  sailor  shrewdly  replied,  '  then  haul  in  your  sails  as 
to  extravagancy  ;'  upon  which  the  quaker  very  good- 
naturedly  handed  him  the  hat,  saying,  '  Friend,  thee  are 
welcome  to  the  hat,  as  no  one  before  has  ever  detected 


50  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN, 

what  I  really  meant  when  I  said,  As  I  live  I  cannot  afford 
it  less,^  Therefore,  you  and  your  family  haul  in  your  sails 
as  to  extravagance,  and  you  will  prosper  equally  with 
mine." 

The  careless,  unguarded,  and  indifferent  manner  in 
which  many  parents  daily  express  themselves  before  their 
children,  has  too  often  proved  a  source  of  deep  affliction, 
for  the  speeches  of  men  are  generally  like  themselves ; 
and  not  only  from  the  fact  that  we  are  the  beings  of 
imitation  and  progression,  but  our  very  nature  as  children, 
believe  what  we  see  and  hear  in  our  parents,  to  be  correct ; 
hence  fathers  and  mothers  should  be  very  guarded  in  all 
speeches,  as  heads  of  their  family,  and  not  (^uiet  their 
consciences  by  an  inexcusable  opiate,  that  they  merely 
spoke  in  a  jest,  and  having  alluded  not  only  to  speeches 
of  foul  and  open  vulgarity  as  indulged  by  the  canaille 
of  our  land,  but  also  too  often  by  those  considered  as 
accomplished  and  refined  in  all  1?ieir  manners  when 
enjoying  the  fashionable  circle  of  equals  in  property,  or 
superiors  in  every  other  rank  or  situation  in  life,  but 
in  presence  of  their  servants  or  inferiors,  (if  the  latter 
they  have)  cowardly  as  well  as  ungentlemanly  or  unlady- 
like ;  descend  to  language  base  and  obscene,  little  think- 
ing that  although  their  Children  are  not  present,  still  a 
contaminating  and  blighting  influencec,  as  to  morality, 
would  reach  their  children,  through  a  further  unavoidable 
course  with  those  very  servants  with  whom  an  unchaste 
intimacy  had  placed  them  on  equal  rank  with  them- 
selves. 

Neither  time,  place,  or  disposition,  prompts  me  to 
mention  many  of  the  foul  speeches  which  parents  too 
often  indulge  "in  before  their  children,  or  by  refusing  their 
personal,  well-timed,  chaste  familiarities  during  seasons 
alloted  for  amusements,  and  thereby  force  them  to 
mingle  with  low  and  ignorant  servants  ;  or  else  under 
a  false  pretence  of  getting  rid  of  hinderances  or  annoy- 
ances by  innocent  prattle,  thrust  their  children  into  the 
street,  there  to  associate  with  others  of  the  meanest  order, 
whose  speeches  (to  say  nothing  of  idleness,)  contaminate 
the  very  atmosphere  they  breathe  ;  and  much  as  we  find 
to  condemn  in  many  practices  of  Southerners,  still,  to 
their  credit,  it  must  he  acknowledged  they  are  in  many 


PARETCTS    AND    CHILDREN,  51 

respects  superior  to  Northerners,  in  an  early  and  proper 
training  of  their  cliildren. 

Hence,  their  kitchens  are  at  a  distance  from  their 
dwellings,  and  as  their  climate  denies  the  congregating 
of  many  children  in  one  room,  they  sj^are  no  pains  or 
money  to  place  their  offspring  at  home,  under  the 
auspices  of  teachers,  who  are  not  only  learned  and  moral, 
but  religious,  for  such  are  the  beauties  whicl^-spring  from 
r-eligion,  that  even  irreligious  parents  preier  a  moral 
instead  of  an  immoral  teacher  to  instruct  their  children. 

In  speakiug  of  private  or  select  schools,  I  wish  not  to 
be  understood  as  yielding  an  unqualified  assent,  particu- 
larly where  geographical  barriers  do  not  exist  as  to 
climate,  as  they  always  must  more  or  less  injure  the 
general  wheel  of  common  district  schools,  which  nur- 
sery will,  under  its  proper  head,  receive  further  notice. 

I  have  already  intimated  that  a  proper  regard  for  my- 
self, and  a  decent  respect  for  the  feelings  of  my  readers, 
forbid  even  a  partial  detail  of  obscenities  in  speech, 
practiced  by  many  fathers  before  their  children,  and  (to 
the  dishonor  of  their  sex,)  not  a  few  mothers,  which  not 
only  tend  directly  to  poison  the  future  growth  of  their 
offspring,  but  contaminate,  by  its  contagious  principles, 
more  or  less,  the  whole  circle  of  society. 

Still  I  beg  leave  to  particularize  one  kind  of  vulgarity 
which  not  only  renders  the  person  loathesome  and  disgust- 
ing to  every  good  and  virtuous  man,  but  sinful  in  the 
sight  of  a  pure  and  holy  God,  who  has  declared  in  une- 
quivocal language,  that  he  who  indulges  therein  shall 
not  be  held  guiltless.  I  shall  allude  to  profane  swear- 
ing, on  which  an  eminent  writer  (believed  to  be  Blair),  has 
drawn  something  like  the  following  picture  : 

"  Few  evil  habits  are  of  more  pernicious  consequence, 
or  are  overcome  with  more  difficulty,  than  that  very  odious 
one  of  profane  swearing  and  cursing. 

"  It  cannot  be  expected  that  the  force  of  moral  prin- 
ciples should  be  very  strong  upon  any  one  who  is  accus- 
tomed upon  every  trifling  occasion,  and  frequently  without 
any  occasion  at  all,  to  slighttheprecept  and  the  character 
of  the  Supreme  Being. 

"  When  we  have  lost  any  degree  of  respect  for  the 
Author  of  our  existence  and  the  concerns  of  futurity,  and 
can  bring  the  most  awful  appellations  into  our  slightest 


52  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

conversation,  merely  by  way  of  embellishing  our  foolish 
and,  perhaps,  fallacious  narratives,  or  to  give  a  greater 
force  to  our  little  resentments,  conscience  will  soon  lose 
its  influence  upon  our  minds. 

"Nothing  but  the  fear  of  disgrace,  or  a  dread  of  human 
laws,  will  restrain  any  person  addicted  to  common  swear- 
ing from  the  most  detestable  perjury. 

"  For  if  a  man  can  be  brought  to  trifle  wiih  the  most 
sacred  things  in  his  common  discourse,  he  cannot,  surely, 
consider  it  of  more  consequence  when  his  interest  leads 
him  to  swear  falsely  for  his  own  defence  or  emolument. 
"  It  is  really  astonishing  how  rootedly  he  afterwards 
adheres  to  it. 

"  People  using  only  slight  exclamations,  and  which 
seem  hardly  to  carry  the  appearance  of  anything  criminal, 
and  so  proceed  on  to  others,  until  the  most  shocking 
oaths  become  familiar. 

"  And  when  once  the  habit  is  confirmed,  rarely,  if  ever, 
is  it  eradicated,  the  swearer  loses  the  ideas  which  are 
attached  to  the  words  he  makes  use  of,  therefore  execrates 
his  friend  when  he  means  to  bless  him,  and  calls  God  to 
witness  his  intention  of  doing  things  which  he  knows  he 
has  no  thought  of  performing  in  reality. 

"  A  young  gentleman  with,  whom  I  am  intimately 
acquainted,  and  who  possesses  many  excellent  qualifica- 
tions, but  who  is  unhappily  in  a  declining  state  of  health, 
and  evidently  tending  rapidly  to  the  chambers  of  death, 
has  been  from  his  childhood  so  addicted  to  the  practice 
of  profane  swearing  in  his  common  conversation  that, 
even  now,  I  am  frequently  shocked  by  his  profaning  the 
name  of  that  Being  before  whom  he  must  probably  soon 
be  obliged  to  appear. 

"  It  must  be  exceedingly  painful  to  a  sensible  heart,  feel- 
ing for  the  best  interest  of  a  valuable  friend,  and  other- 
wise an  excellent  acquaintance,  to  observe  the  person  he 
so  highly  regards  confirmed  in  such  a  shocking  habit, 
even  while  standing  in  the  most  awful  situation  in  which 
is  is  possible  for  a  human  creature  to  be  placed. 

"  Almost  every  other  vice  affords  its  votaries  some  pre- 
tence of  excuse,  from  its  being  productive  of  present 
pleasure,  or  affording  a  future  prospect  of  advantage,  but 
the  profane  swearer  cannot  even  say  he  feels  any  satisfac- 
tion, that  he  hopes  to  meet  with  any  benefit  from  the 


J 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  53 

foolish  habit,  for  he  is  caught  without  any  bait  on  the 
naked  hook. 

"  Let  them,  then,  who  are  addicted  to  this  vice  seriously 
consider  how  aggravating  a  guilt  it  is  to  offend  the  Deity 
continually,  without  having  the  least  shadow  of  an  excuse 
for  so  doing,  and  determine  at  once  to  regulate  their  con- 
versation and  conduct  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ensure  to 
tlJemselves  the  permanent  satisfaction  which  will  result 
at  the  close  of  their  life,  from  the  reflection  that  they 
have  erred  no  further  from  the  rules  of  eternal  justice 
than  the  common  condition  of  humanity,  in  its  present 
state,  renders  unavoidable,  and  that  they  endeavored,  to 
the  utmost  of  their  power,  to  correct  every  error  in  their 
conduct  when  they  have  felt  it  condemned  by  the  dic- 
tates of  conscience." 

Not  a  few  who  indulge  in  the  sinful  practice  of  profane 
swearing,  (to  say  nothing  of  its  folly  grammatically  con- 
sidered, aided  and  assisted  by  the  father  of  crimes  and 
wicked  transgressions)  attempt  to  justify  themselves  that 
they  mean  no  harm,  and  can  produce  many  passages 
from  Holy  Writ  where  swearing  was  introduced  by  the 
pure  and  upright  in  spirit.  In  the  consummation  of  cer- 
tain contracts,  and  in  exhortation  by  the  greatest  of  all 
the  Apostles,  it  is  true  God  confirmed  his  covenant  with 
Abraham  by  an  oath,  not  that  he  feared  his  bare  promise 
would  be  doubted  by  the  faith  of  the  patriarch,  but  the 
solemnity  and  vast  importance  of  the  contract  pleased 
our  Creator  to  show  Abraham  by  two  immutabilities,  that 
his  word  should  be  fully  established,  and  further  deposed 
it  as  an  example  for  that  seed  in  future,  to  practice  in  all 
ecclesiastical  matters,  or  courts  of  jurisprudence,  and 
never  in  vain  intended  for  one  moment  to  license  an  oath 
on  small  and  trifling  occasions  in  the  sanctioning  of  sud- 
den unnecessary  ejaculations,  as  "Gracious  God,"  "Good 
Heavens,"  or  declarations  too  frequently  made  use  of  by 
children,  such  as  "By  Ginger,"  "By  Gum,"  "By 
George,"  "  I'll  be  dod  darned,"  are  by  many  supposed 
perfectly  innocent,  but  unless  promptly  checked  in  chil- 
dren by  their  parents,  v.ill  lead  to  open  and  shocking 
profanity  of  a  higher  order. 

Reverential  conversation,  preacliing  the  word  of  divine 
truth,  or  leading  in  religious  worship,  privileges  the 
naming  of  God,  or   any  of  his  attributes ;  heenc,  Paul  in 


54  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

exhorting,  2d  Corinthians,  1st  Chap.,  verse  23,  de- 
clares :  "  Moreover  I  call  God  for  a  record  upon  my 
soul,  that  to  spare  you  I  came  not  as  yet  unto  Corinth." 

Here  the  great  Apostle  assigns  tenderness  for  his  delay 
hitherto  in  visiting  Corinth,  and  calls  upon  God  as  a  wit- 
ness for  those  feelings  which  otherwise  would  have  justi- 
fied severe  and  condign  punishment ;  and  those  who  dare 
pronounce  this  appeal  as  a  justification  for  calling  on 
the  name  of  the  Deity  as  a  prop  or  support  in  trilling 
allegations,  I  neither  crave  their  hearts  nor  their  brains. 

Although  all  persons  indulging  in  sinful  practices  are 
heinous  or  offensive  in  the  sight  of  good  and  virtuous 
men,  still  some  are  more  to  be  dreaded  that  others,  on 
account  of  the  diificulty  to  unvail  or  expose  their  native 
deformity,  and  thereby  avert  those  evils  which  more  or 
less  must  flow^  through  the  best  guarded  and  well  regu- 
lated ranks  of  any  society. 

The  liar,  therefore,  has  even  been  considered  a  greater 
pest  than  the  thief,  for  against  the  depredations  of  the 
latter  we  can  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  fortify  and  se- 
cure ourselves  by  bolts  and  bars  ;  but  against  the  former 
we  have  no  certainty  of  one  moment's  security,  for  the 
liar  who  has  forfeited  all  confidence  in  his  fellow  man 
cannot  be  trusted  or  believed  with  safety  even  wdien  he 
speaks  the  truth,  and  self-interest,  w'hich  so  powerfully 
directs  every  other  reigning  human  passion,  appears  to 
have  lost  its  force  or  influence  on  the  lips  of  a  liar, 
who  not  unfrequently  evades  the  truth  when  it  w^ould 
have  better  subserved  his  interest.  "  Lying  lips  are  an 
abomination  to  the  Lord,  but  they  that  deal  truly  are  his 
delight."— Prov.  xii. :  22. 

And  so  strong  has  the  passion  of  lying  influenced  the 
conduct  and  career  of  some  men,  that  not  a  few  have 
attempted  to  offer  "  Charity''^  as  an  apology  for  this  first 
great  sin,  as  introduced  in  our  w^orld  by  his  Satanic 
majesty,  and  "at  the  present  day  practiced  by  all  his  vota- 
ries, saying  it  is  constitutional,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be 
avoided.  When  I  say  charity  has  entered  this  plea  in ' 
behalf  of  the  liar,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  giving  the 
assertion  from  those  of  other  lips,  that  of  charity  her- 
self— whose  unbounded  love  for  everything  that  is  good 
and  excellent,  constrains  her  to  bear  heavy  burthens,  still 
she  can  never  shield  or  sanction  a  sin  wdiich  is  in  direct 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  55 

opposition  to  the  very  nature  and  essence  of  that  being 
for  whom  she  stands  pre-eminently  acknowledged  as  one 
of  his  brightest  attributes. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

In  commencing  this  little  work  the  author  designed  to 
base  all  his  views  directly  or  indirectly  upon  the  Bible, 
without  embracing  any  particular  dogma  or  creed  held  at 
the  present  day  by  any  sect  or  religious  denomination, 
and  although  we  find  children  at  a  very  tender  age  prac- 
tising and  indulging  in  the  awful  sin  of  lying,  I  am  con- 
strained to  believe  that  it  is  more  the  result  of  an  im- 
proper training,  or  course  growing  out  of  natural  repro- 
bation. 

The  force  of  example  is  greatly  increased  by  the  tie 
of  consanguinity  or  blood  relationship  ;  hence  those  prac- 
tices which  are  pursued  by  parents  (as  named  in  a  former 
part  of  this  work,)  are  generally  imitated  by  their  children, 
without  loss  or  diminution  of  strength,  and  fathers  and 
mothers  who  do  not  at  all  times  in  their  daily  walk  and 
conversation  practice  a  scrupulous  and  sacred  regard  for 
truth,  or  on  the  contrary  occasionally  equivocating  and 
prevaricating,  must,  as  a  natural  consequence,  kindle  up 
an  unhallowed  passion  for  lying  in  the  bosom  of  their 
offspring,  which  nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  could  ex- 
tinguish, although  severe  and  condign  punishment  should 
be  inflicted  upon  the  little  offender. 

To  better  illustrate  the  baneful  and  pernicious  conse- 
quence growing  out  of  equivocations  and  prevarications 
by  parents  on  the  mind  of  their  offspring,  I  beg  leave  to 
suppose  a  few  not  unusual  cases  as  practiced  particularly 
in  cities  or  incorporated  towns  by  the  higher  (as  they 
would  be  styled)  circle  of  society.  Mrs.  A,  who  in  her 
domestic  avocations,  like  the  lark  had  sprightly  hailed 
the  morn,  proposes,  about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  do 
herself  the  pleasure  of  calling  on  Mrs.  B  ;  the  latter  be- 
holding from  her  window  the  arrival  of  the  former,  and 
conscious  that  not  only  her  own  dress,  but  almost  every  de- 


56  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

partment  of  her  household  were  in  a  disordered  state  from 
a  want  of  seasonable  attention,  directs  a  son  or  daughter 
to  go  to  the  door  and  say,  "  Mrs.  A,  mamma  is  not  in, 
just  stepped  out  to  do  a  little  shopping."  The  child  re- 
turns to  its  mother  and  informs  her  that  her  orders  were 
obeyed  and  Mrs.  A  had  left  the  door,  upon  which  Mrs. 
B  compliments  her  child's  obedience,  and  declares  al- 
though she  was  not  out  shopping  it  was  so  soon  her 
intention  to  leave,  that  was  the  same  thing  as  to  be 
absent  at  the  present  time. 

Again,  a  father  who  is  in  the  habit  of  attending  politi- 
cal caucuses,  or  drinking,  getting  himself  often  intoxi- 
cated at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  by  too  free  a  use  of 
whiskey-punch  around  a  billiard  or  card-table,  has  fre- 
quently, to  his  great  annoyance,  been  disturbed  in  his 
sleep,  about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  by  one  of  his 
children  stating  that  there  was  a  gentleman  down  stairs 
in  the  parlor  who  wished  to  speak  to  him.  "  Say,"  says 
the  half-recovered  inebriate,  "  I  am  not  at  home."  The 
child  here,  as  before,  obeys,  conscienciously  believing, 
from  its  improper  training,  that  in  so  doing  it  but  fulfills 
that  commandment  of  the  great  apostle,  which  says,  in 
Corinthians,  3d  chapter,  20th  verse,  "  Children  obey  your 
parents  in  all  things,  for  this  is  well  pleasing  unto  the 
Lord." 

In  presenting  this  sacred  text  to  the  eye  of  a  child,  the 
parent  or  guardian  should  so  teach  as  to  show  that  the 
apostle  only  alluded  to  such  obedience  as  was  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  divine  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father, 
W'ho  cannot  sanction,  from  his  very  nature,  any  statement 
which  even  approximates  to  falsehood,  from  the  lips  of 
any  of  his  creatures.  But  to  return  to  the  earthly  father 
now  in  question,  whom,  we  will  suppose,  about  two  hours 
after  issuing  from  his  bed-room,  rises  from  his  couch, 
and  from  thence  to  his  parlor  or  sitting-room,  where  not 
an  unfrequent  dialogue  commences  between  himself  and 
son,  about  ten  years  old. 

Father. — Who  was  the  gentleman  desiring  to  see  me, 
this  morning  ? 

Sox. — Not  able  to  say,  sir. 

Father. — Did  you  say  to  him,  as  by  me  directed,  that 
I  w^as  not  at  home  ? 

Son. — Yes,  sir. 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  57 

Father. — That  was  right ;  for  I  was  not  in  to  see 
him,  and  as  I  intend,  after  sipping  a  cup  of  coffee  and 
partaking  of  a  piece  of  toast,  to  walk  down  to  the  City- 
Hotel,  that  will  amount  in  substance  as  if  I  was  out  when 
he  called. 

I  w411  barely  mention  one  or  two  cases  more  of  equiv- 
ocations and  prevarications  by  parents  before  their  chil- 
dren, as  practised  in  the  country  circles,  out  of  hundreds 
which  might  be  cited.  Mrs.  Doe  sends  her  daughter, 
about  eight  years  old,  over  to  her  neighbor,  Mrs.  Roe,  at 
4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  requesting  the  loan  of  about 
a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  tea,  which  she  would  return  to- 
morrow morning,  from  a  pound  she  expected  from  Mr. 
Upham's  store.  The  message  is  delivered  by  the  little 
girl  at  the  door,  to  one  of  Mrs.  Roe's  daughters,  of  a  like 
age,  or  perhaps  older,  who  promptly  carries  the  same  lo 
her  mother,  who  directs  an  answer  to  be  returned  that 
she  had  that  very  morning  consumed  the  last  grain  con- 
tained in  her  canister.  The  daughter  of  Mrs.  Roe, 
conscious  that  her  father  had  just  returned  from  the  store 
with  a  fresh  supply  of  tea,  reminds  her  mother  of  the  fact, 
who,  w^hether  arising  from  the  want  of  punctuality  on 
the  part  of  the  borrower,  or  a  disposition  not  to  accommo- 
date, sternly  directs  her  daughter  to  obey  without  further 
altercation,  and  what  she  had  said  about  the  emptiness  of 
the  canister  was  true,  and  as  respects  the  fresh  supply, 
that  was  not  yet  unpacked. 

Fourthly,  we  will  suppose  a  poor  man  endeavoring  to 
cultivate  half  an  acre  of  maize  or  Indian  corn,  and  apply- 
ing to  a  rich  neighbor  for  one  of  liis  three  horses  where- 
wdth  to  plow  his  small  lot  of  growing  corn,  is  assured  by 
the  wealthy  neighbor  that  two  of  his  horses  were  in  use, 
and  the  third,  old  Jack,  in  leaping  a  certain  fence  last 
week,  had  severely  scarified  and  bruised  one  of  his  fore 
legs,  causing  him  not  only  to  become  very  lame,  but  un- 
fit for  use,  from  all  of  which  he  regretted  to  say,  he  could 
not  grant  the  request,  and  the  poor  man  returned  home 
in  despair,  regarding  a  seasonable  attention  to  his  maize. 

The  rich  man  had  a  son  about  seven  years  old  present 
at  the  time  the  horse  was  requested  and  refused,  and 
when  the  poor  man  was  beyond  hearing,  addressed  his 
father  in  a  very  feeling  and  tender  manner,  asking  why 
he  did  not  ^et  the  applicant  have  old  Jack,  as  he  knew 
3* 


58  TABEWTS    AND    CIIILDHEN. 

he  had  recovered  from  his  lameness,  and  had  worked  him 
with  ease  for  the  last  two  days.  The  father  replied  that 
what  he  had  said  Avas  true  at  the  time,  and  even  subse- 
quent to  the  day  on  which  the  leg  of  the  horse  was 
afflicted. 

The  foregoino-  subterfuges  are  not  merely  the  work  of 
fancied  imagination,  but  founded  upon  awful  truths,  which 
daily  observation  of  the  practices  pursued  by  equivocating 
and  prevaricating  parents  before  their  children,  who,  now 
on  the  line  of  progression,  soon  acquire  a  thirst  for  the 
most  atrocious  and  abominable  falsehoods,  even  to  the 
perpetration  of  perjury. 

Perhaps  sufficient  has  been  said  under  this  head,  but  I 
beg  leave  to  mention  one  other  prolific  source  from  which 
parents  train  up  their  children  to  become  liars.  I  allude 
to  the  infliction  of  severe  and  condign  punishment  for  an 
act  generally  understood  by  the  term  accident ;  a  word 
defined  by  some  lexicographers  as  "  happening  without  a 
cause,"  while  others  contend  that  all  acts  of  men  are  the 
direct  and  legitimate  offspring  of  a  procuring  cause,  or  in 
other  words,  "  a  creating  something."  Without  intend- 
ing to  place  myself  in  the  arena,  or  mere  place  of  disputa- 
tion, I  simply  wish  to  be  understood  as  alluding  to  pun- 
ishment of  a  child  for  breaking  a  plate,  bowl,  saucer, 
(not  sasser)  or  cup — letting  basins  of  milk  fall  out  of  its 
hands,  or  driving  a  horse  and  wagon  down  a  precipice, 
severely  wounding  the  former,  and  nearly  destroying  the 
latter,  which  act  or  acts,  to  suppose  intentional,  would 
be  a  tacit  acknowdedgment  that  the  child  was  insane  ;  it 
would  be  more  charitable  to  believe  the  occurrence  orig- 
inated from  carelessness  or  want  of  mature  judgment,  in 
which  latter  case  it  would  have  been  far  better  for  the 
parent  to  instruct  the  child  how  it  might  have  been 
avoided,  and  in  future  prevent  a  similar  occurrence — 
whereas,  without  such  advice  or  counsel,  a  repetition 
might  follow,  and  the  child,  from  fear,  tell  a  lie  to  screen 
itself  from  punishment. 

In  recommending  here  the  withholding  of  the  rod,  I 
trust  I  shall  not  be  understood  after  gentle  means  have 
proved  unsuccessful. 

And  as  many  children,  when  arraigned  under  a  charge 
of  falsehood,  substantially  authenticated,  criminate  an 
innocent  third  person  in  hopes  of  obtaining  an  acquittal, 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  59 

in  sucli  cases  great  prudence  is  necessary  on  the  part  of  a 
parent  or  guardian  to  present  affectionately  to  the  mind 
of  the  child,  the  author  and  true  character  of  all  lies, 
who,  although  for  a  season  may  smile,  and  by  deceitful 
art  or  dissimulation  will  obtain  full  possession  of  the 
human  heart,  still  never  ceases  until  he  drags  his  victim 
down  into  the  lowest  shades  of  moral  death,  not  only 
shunned  and  despised  by  every  good  and  virtuous  man, 
but  rejected  and  condem.ned  by  the  supreme  Judge  of  all 
the  earth. 

As  in  those  of  riper  years,  so  the  child  as  it  advances 
in  the  career  of  lying  or  any  other  sin,  appears  not  alto- 
gether insensible  of  the  stain  and  blot  which  it  has  fixed 
upon  its  character,  and  will,  with  no  small  degree  of 
undue  pride,  deny  the  charge,  following  it  up  by  a  suc- 
cession of  other  lies,  as  just  named. 

The  pride  here  alluded  to  is  not  that  noble  emotion 
which  springs  from  a  guiltless  conscience,  but  from  a 
vitiated  mind,  rendered  callous  and  insensible  by  the  fre- 
quent indulgence  in  the  odious  sin  of  lying,  or  any  other 
vice  which  corrodes  or  poisons  the  beautiful  and  exhile- 
rating  stream  flowing  from  a  conscience  void  of  offence. 

And  where  a  case  occurs  like  the  present,  calling  on 
the  administrators  of  justice  to  inflict  the  rod,  care  must 
be  taken  not  to  continue  its  use  too  long  at  any  one 
period,  should  the  child  still  remain  obstinate  and  unwill- 
ing to  yield,  in  which  case,  after  an  affectionate  assurance 
that  punishment  was  inflicted  from  love,  and  not  from 
caprice,  it  may  not  be  unadvisable  to  let  one  or  two  hours 
elapse,  in  order  that  reason  may  have  time  to  resume  her 
office  ;  but  as  the  parent  loves  its  child,  never  let  the  rod 
be  wholly  withdrawn  until  the  desired  cure  is  effected, 
notwithstanding  perchance  it  may  meet  the  disapproba- 
tion of  some  neighbor,  and  caiise  the  outcry  of  cruelty, 
remembering  Esop's  fable  of  the  man  and  his  son,  who 
endeavoring  to  please  every  one  he  met  as  to  the  true 
mode  of  conveyance,  whereby  he  caused  the  animal  to 
be  drowned. 

Speaking  here  of  neighbors,  I  feel  bound  to  assure  my 
readers  that  I  do  not  allude  to  the  same  characters  as  pre- 
figured by  our  Saviour's  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan, 
but  that  class  who  take  a  greater  delight  in  attending  to 
the  affairs  of  their  neighbors  than  those  of  their  own, 


60  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

■whereas,  did  they  strictly  attend  to  the  latter,  they  \vould 
not  only  evince  a  greater  love  for  their  own  children,  but 
equally  participate  in  the  advantages  of  a  certain  down- 
easter,  who  in  one  year,  declared  he  made  two  thousand 
dollars  by  attending  to  his  own  business,  or  rather  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  by  pursuing  that  course,  and  five  hundred 
dollars  by  not  meddling  with  the  affairs  of  others. 

One  of  the  biographers  of  General  George  Washington, 
(believed  to  be  Weims,)  ascribes  the  origin  and  progress 
of  this  great  patriot,  statesman,  and  philanthropist's  mind 
to  his  natural  abilities  constantly  guided  by  religion^  and 
so  long  as  the  history  of  his  father's  favorite  cherry-tree 
and  the  little  hatchet  shall  be  familiar  to  the  mind  of  not 
only  present  but  unborn  generations,  so  long  will  be  dis- 
covered the  early  developments  and  love  for  truth  by  him 
w^ho  is  emphatically  styled  the  "  Father  of  his  Country, ^^ 

As  from  a  little  matter  great  fires  are  often  kindled  it 
behooves  parents  to  early  check  and  correct  ail  disposi- 
tions and  propensities  which  may  evince  in  their  children 
an  unhallowed  passion  for  purloining  the  property  of 
others,  and  having  several  heads  yet  to  touch  in  the 
proper  training  of  children,  I  must  here,  as  to  the  sin  of 
stealing,  be  brief,  begging  leave,  however,  to  narrate  the 
history  of  an  unfortunate  interesting  English  youth,  aged 
nineteen  years,  who  was  some  years  since  executed  on 
the  gallows  for  stealing  a  deer  from  a  gentleman's  park, 
that  then  being  the  penalty  of  violated  law  for  such  an 
offence.  He  requested  permission  from  the  executioner 
to  whisper  to  his  mother,  who  was  standing  in  the  midst 
of  a  thronged  assembly  near  the  scaffold  ;  the  death- 
warrant  w^as  examined,  and  found  it  would  not  expire 
under  fifty  minutes,  consequently  the  humane  oflficer 
granted  the  dying  request,  so  qualifying  it  as  not  to 
exceed  ten  minutes.  The  mother,  overwhelmed  in  tears, 
ascended  the  dreadful  and  awful  platform,  and  while 
embracing  once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  on  the  shores 
of  mortality,  her  ill-fated  offspring,  with  his  mouth  to  her 
ear,  a  solemn  silence  pervaded  every  rank  of  the  vast 
assembly,  not  solely  arising  from  the  imposingness  of  the 
scene,  but  in  part  from  a  noble  and  generous  desire  to 
give  the  mother  a  fair  opportunity  to  distinctly  hear,  as 
she  supposed,  th^  dying  words  of  her  son  ;  but  awful  to 
relate,  as  he  disengaged  himself  from   their  united  em- 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  61 

brace,  he  brought  her  ear  with  him  in  his  mouth,  and 
disgorged  it  at  his  feet.  The  justly  indignant  assembly 
for  such  an  unnatural,  nay,  most  brutal  act,  instantly 
exclaimed,  in  vociferous  voices,  "  Villain !  villain ! 
villain !" 

The  youth,  after  making  several  unsuccessful  attempts, 
"whereby  he  might  obtain  permission  to  speak  a  few 
words  by  way  of  self-justification,  at  last  gained  his  point 
and  the  assembled  multitude  once  more  relapsed  into 
their  former  state  of  profound  silence,  whereupon  the 
young  criminal  addressed  all  the  spectators  in  words 
nearly  as  follows  : 

"  Fellow-mortals,  I  know  you  look  on  me  as  upon  a 
wretch  beset  with  ills  and  covered  with  misfortunes  ;  but 
be  it  known  to  you,  that  woman,  whose  ear  I  have  just 
bitten  off,  has  been  the  procuring  cause  of  nearly  all  my 
sins  and  wicked  transgressions,  from  the  day  of  my 
accountability  up  to  the  present  hour. 

"  The  first  theft  I  ever  committed  was  at  school,  when 
only  five  years  old,  in  stealing  a  little  horn-book  from 
one  of  my  play-mates.  I  took  it  home  and  informed  her 
by  what  '  ways  and  means  '  I  had  obtained  it.  She 
applauded  me  for  my  dexterity,  and  thus  encouraged  m.e 
step  by  step  to  steal  pen-knives,  balls  and  tops,  to  plunder 
orchards  on  the  Sabbath-day,  rob  hen-roosts,  &c.,  &c., 
which  so  increased  my  appetite  for  theft,  as  to  grow  with 
my  age,  stealing  and  pilfering  every  article  on  which  I 
could  lay  my  hands,  whether  convertible  to  use  or  not, 
until  at  last  I  was  emboldened  to  steal  the  deer,  for  which 
I  am  now  brought  to  this  ignominious  end  ;  whereas,  had 
my  mother,  instead  of  secreting  and  encouraging  my  first 
theft,  punished  me,  I  might  now  not  only  have  been 
enjoying  the  blessings  of  English  liberty,  but  free  from 
the  stains  and  wounds  of  a  guilty  conscience,  which 
accompanies  my  exit  from  time  to  eternity." 

Fathers  and  mothers  have  you  a  son  or  daughter  who 
occasionally  steals  or  takes,  without  liberty,  that  which 
does  not  belong  to  it  ?  If  you  have,  and  see  the  article, 
however  insignificant  as  to  value,  in  the  possession  of  your 
child,  or  when  by  a  neighbor  or  stranger  kindly  informed 
of  the  fact,  never  give  slumber  to  your  eyes  until  you 
cause  the  child  to  return  the  stolen  property  to  the  owner 
and   humbly  ask   forgiveness;    and   should   this   course 


6S  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN* 

prove  insufficient  to  produce  reformation,  let  not  a  false 
notion  of  parental  love  dissuade  you  from  the  use  of  the 
rod,  and  also  be  careful  that  your  wounded  pride  does 
not  prevent  an  immediate  and  cheerful  investigation  of 
any  charge  preferred  against  your  child  by  a  third  person 
or  in  its  presence  insult  your  informer  by  declaring  the 
complaint  is  unfounded,  as  your  child  was  at  home,  at  or 
near  the  very  time  the  alleged  theft  was  committed. 

Parents  are  not  only  bound  to  provide  for  the  bodies 
of  their  offspring,  but  also  to  protect  and  defend  an  unsul- 
lied character  against  the  foul  tongue  of  slanderers  or 
calumniators,  but  by  an  unqualified  denial  on  the  part  of 
a  parent,  or  an  attempt  to  screen  the  guilt  on  any  charge 
of  a  misdemeanor  preferred  against  its  child,  without  first 
manifesting  a  desire  to  ascertain  the  truth  or  fallacy,  can 
never  fail  in  poisoning  and  corrupting  the  moral  charac- 
ter of  the  child  ere  it  reaches  to  the  meridian  of  life,  and 
like  the  English  youth  just  named,  if  not  for  theft,  for 
some  more  heinous  crime,  on  a  gallows^  bring  down  the 
grey  hairs  of  its  parents  with  sorrov.^  to  the  grave. 

Although  I  have,  in  former  pages  of  this  work,  hinted 
at  some  of  the  recreations  of  the  Sabbath,  still  not  suffi- 
cient to  satisfy  my  own  feelings,  or  meet  a  reasonable 
anticipation  on  the  part  of  my  reader. 

Parents  too  often  blinded  by  a  false  love  for  their  chil- 
dren^ and  apparently  ignorant  of  the  first  principles  regu- 
lating a  virtuous  recreation,  suffer  their  children  on  the 
Sabbath-day  to  pass  through  without  a  single  word  of 
pious  instruction,  or  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Bible,  to 
say  nothing  of  their  invariable  absence  from  God's  house 
on  the  day  which  was  made  above  all  other  days,  or  if 
any  of  these  first  two  means  of  grace  are  observed,  in  a 
populous  city  too  often  not  practised  until  after  breakfast. 
The  perusal  of  a  newspaper  in  connection  with  almost  an 
inanimate  or  snail-like  course  in  washing,  cleaning,  and 
dressing  their  bodies  before  the  church-bell  rings. 

Or  if  in  the  country,  not  until  after  the  garden  and 
fields  have  been  explored,  hog-holes  stopped,  and  dis- 
placed rails  of  fences  replaced ;  the  day  thus  far  spent,  I 
will  charitably  grant  to  the  heads  of  the  family  with  the 
younger  children,  (one  a  babe,  capable  of  making  more 
noise  than  the  minister  and  choir  together,)  the  attendance 
on  public  worship,  and  after  returning  home  again  supply 


PARENtS    AND    CHILDREN.  63 

the  wants  of  their  bodies,  then  lounge  about  the  house, 
or  on  their  respective  couches  sleep  away  the  time,  until 
it  becomes  necessary  to  feed  their  horses,  cattle,  or  swine, 
while  the  elder  daughters  are  gossiping  from  neighbor  to 
neighbor,  and  their  brothers  either  plundering  fruit  or 
nut-orchards,  or  else  in  the  woods  with  a  gun,  searching 
for  wild  game,  if  not  angling  on  the  margin  of  some 
neighboring  stream,  near  which  may  be  heard  the  voices 
of  many  other  young  men  engaged  in  the  feats  of  ball- 
playing,  or  quoit-pitching;  and  all  these  desecrations  are 
not  unfrequently  justified  by  parents,  saying,  "  After  the 
hard  labor  of  six  days,  recreation  was  necessary  for  both 
body  and  mind." 

And  so  bold  have  they  become  by  violating  the  fourth 
commandment,  that  they  ^\'ill  endeavor  to  justify  their 
conduct  by  a  perversion  of  that  passage  of  holy  writ 
which  says :  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  not  man 
for  the  Sabbath."  True,  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, 
because  it  was  for  him  to  enjoy  and  rest  above  all  other 
days,  and  for  his  working  beasts,  such  as  horses  and  oxen, 
to  have  one  day  out  of  seven  to  rest  as  well  as  their  mas- 
ters. True,  the  Sabbath  was  bestowed  upon  man  as  a 
blessing,  and  by  denying  or  forbidding  all  Vv^orldly  em- 
ployment, save  acts  of  mercy  and  necessity — a  blessing, 
because  free  from  the  great  burden  of  worldly  care,  he 
becomes  not  only  privileged  to  read  the  holy  chart,  but 
in  public  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  exposition,  admonition, 
and  instruction,  as  well  as  to  meditate  on  the  solemn 
scene  which  must  close  his  earthly  career. 

Parents  be  careful ;  have  you  examined  any  passages 
of  God's  Word  where  your  views  are  solely  fixed  to 
license  a  violation  of  God's  great  Ten  Commandments'? 
and  that  parent  who  neglects  to  train  up  his  child  to 
keep  the  Sabbath  holy,  has  not  only  no  claims  to  natural 
affection,  but  is  unworthy  the  confidence  of  his  fellow- 
man. 


64  PARENTS    AND     CHILDREN. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

There  is  perhaps  no  evil  that  has  proved  itself  so  de- 
vastating, particularly  in  our  land,  to  both  body  and  soul, 
or  destroyed  more  property  with  blasted  expectations  of 
fond  and  affectionate  wives,  to  say  nothing  of  loss  of 
character,  impoverished  children,  thronged  alms-houses, 
crowded  penitentiaries,  and  blood-stained  scaffolds,  than 
that  produced  by  drunkenness  ;  and  as  the  confirmed 
habit  or  thirst  for  alcohol  is  not  the  growth  of  an  hour  or 
day,  parents  cannot  be  too  careful  in  the  early  training 
of  their  children,  to  avoid  the  demoralizing  draught  even 
in  its  mildest  or  most  innocent  aspect,  or  for  one  moment, 
either  in  theory  or  practice,  so  instruct  their  children  as 
to  believe  a  little  alcohol  is  good  in  its  place,  "  and  it  is 
not  i7i  its  use  but  in  its  abuse  that  it  is  pernicious."  A 
greater  lie  was  not  uttered  by  Satan  when  he  deceived 
our  mother  Eve,  and  daily  experience  and  observation 
has  awfully  proved  the  falsehood.  In  one  sense  alcohol 
may  be  considered  good  in  its  place,  and  that  is  where 
nature's  God  placed  it,  meat  for  his  noblest  creature,  free 
in  its  native  element  from  the  perverted  and  poisoning 
hand  of  man.  We  not  unfrequently  leap  into  danger  by 
following  the  customs  and  habits  of  others,  and  although 
the  sideboard  is  greatly  cleared  from  the  sparkling  wine, 
its  existence  is  yet  too  prevalent,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
stronger  draught  of  brandy  and  water  after  dinner,  which  i 
obnubilates  or  stupefies  the  ten  pair  of  nerves  spread  over 
the  stomach,  and  thereby  retards  a  healthy  digesting  of 
our  food,  rather  than  its  promotion.  Mothers,  too  often, 
in  the  nursery  prescribe  and  administer  for  an  infant  not 
a  week  old,  "  milk  punch,"  "  Godfrey's  cordial,"  "  pare- 
goric," "  laudanum,"  &c.,  the  very  tendency  of  which 
causes  to  inflame  not  only  all  the  formations  of  the 
stomach  and  tender  intestines,  but  also  invades  the  more 
vital  organs  of  the  body  besides,  with  an  occasional  use, 
for  worms,  of  rue  and  tanzy  bitters,  all  acting  as  so  many 
pioneers  in  after  life  to  the  more  copious  draught  of  alco- 
hol, when  the  unsuspecting  victim,  from  his  or  her 
parent's  false  training,  becomes  a  reeling  and  staggering 
swill-tub,  abreathing  corpse,  a  walking  automaton,  loathed 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  65 

and  despised  even  by  himself.  And  that  father  or 
mother  who  says  to  a  son,  "  I  would  rather  follow  you  to 
an  early  grave  than  that  you  should  become  a  drunlcard,'^ 
must  set  the  example  of  total  abstinence  from  all  which 
intoxicates,  for  it  is  in  vain  to  expect  salutary  tendencies 
from  precept,  in  the  absence  of  example. 

The  Washingtonian  total  abstinence  pledge,  though 
first  embraced  as  it  were  yesterday,  by  the  six  reformed 
drunkards  of  Baltimore,  has  already  fdled  the  world  with 
rejoicings,  and  however  men  may  honestly  differ  in  their 
opinions  as  to  l.he  course  or  true  policy  in  further  advan- 
cing this  great  cause,  one  fact  is  certain,  which  is,  that 
God  is  the  author  and  friend  of  temperance,  and  it  must 
ultimately  so  triumph  as  to  expel  that  monster  from  our 
land,  which  goes  about,  like  the  great  enemy  of  man,  as 
a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  it  may  devour,  and  early 
prejudices  with  false  imbibed  notions  as  to  what  consti- 
tutes liberty,  can  only  be  expelled  by  the  gracious  means 
appointed  by  the  great  Sovereign  of  the  world,  the  most 
prominent  of  which  is  moral  suasion,  in  connection  with 
the  enlightening  of  the  human  mind,  which  latter  has 
been  so  powerfully  presented  in  an  Essay  by  Thatcher 
Trail,  M.  D.,  of  Brooklyn,  and  for  which  he  received  one 
hundred  dollars,  the  prize  awarded  by  the  General  Tem- 
perance Council  of  the  City  of  New  York,  for  the  best 
Essay  on  Alcohol. 

The  duties  and  obligations  of  parents  to  their  offspring 
are  so  numerous,  as  well  as  important,  to  undertake  to 
enumerate  all  in  detail  would  more  than  fill  a  thousand 
quarto  pages,  and  I  must  here  satisfy  myself  with  only  a 
slight  glance  at  those  not  already  herein  mentioned  or 
explained.  A  child  may  be  trained  to  practice  benevo- 
lence, and  yet  so  taught  as  not  to  become  sufficiently 
benevolent,  or  come  up  to  the  standard  of  its  ability,  or 
it  may  be  so  instructed  as  to  give  its  alms  or  attention,  as 
to  act  not  only  unjustly  to  itself,  but  others  having  legal 
prior  claims.  In  order  to  train  a  child  so  as  to  secure 
friends,  it  must  be  taught  to  be  friendly,  and  this  reminds 
one  of  a  question  put  by  a  Sabbath-school  teacher  to  a 
little  girl,  who,  being  interrogated  as  to  the  cause  why 
everybody  loved  her,  replied  :  "  I  know  not,  sir,  unless 
it  is  because  I  love  everybody," 


66 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 


A  child  sliould  be  so  trained  as  to  early  think  for  itself, 
and  to  argue  and  reason  by  the  comparison  of  thinf^s,  at 
the  same  .time  may  become  so  inflexible  or  self-willed  in 
its  views,  as  to  shut  out  wholesome  instruction  from 
strangers  of  riper  years,  if  not  subjected  to  ridicule,  and 
this  reminds  me  of  a  learned  country  gentleman,  who,  on 
visiting  London,  repaired  to  a  museum,  and  on  entering 
the  first  room,  informed  the  proprietor  that  he  had  never 
before  entered  a  depository  of  natural  curiosities,  upon 
which  he  was  kindly  furnished  with  a  conductor,  who, 
for  politeness  and  attention,  proverbially  stood  unrivalled 
in  the  city,  where  he  always  had  his  own  v^'ay.  As  the 
country  gentleman  passed  from  one  curiosity  to  another, 
and  his  own  historical  knowledge  failing  to  fully  satisfy, 
would  ask  information  from  his  accompanying  friend, 
v.'ho  never  failed^  to  give  a  long  yarn  history,  whether 
right  or  wrong.  At  last  the  gentleman's  eye  caught  a 
very  large  and  old  sv.'ord,  suspended  upon  the  wall,  and 
believing  it  was  one  worn  by  an  ancient  hero,  asked  what 
that  sword  intended  to  commemorate,  and  was  very 
promptly  and  politely  assured  by  his  conductor  that  it 
was  the  one  with  which  Balaam  slew  his  ass.  The 
visitor  replied  that  Balaam  did  not  strike  his  ass  wdth  a 
sword,  but  only  wished  he  had  one  ;  upoa  which  the  con- 
ductor rejoined  ;  "  Well,  sir,  this  is  the  same  sword  he 
wished." 

And  while  a  child  is  trained  to  become  yielding  and 
submissive,  at  the  same  time  to  be  so  taught  as  not  to 
subscribe  sycophantically  to  any  doctrine,  or  contrary 
to  the  immutable  laws  of  common  sense,  or  manifest  a 
pleasantness  at  the  expense  of  truth;  modesty,  gentleness, 
mildness,  and  gratitude,  are  among  the  first  roses  gleaned 
from  the  infant  nursery,  and  a  child  should  never  be  per- 
mitted in  a  toneof  high  authority  to  command  a  servant 
or  menial  of  the  household,  or  demand  a  glass  of  water 
without  prefixing  the  word  please,  which  is  a  very  little 
word,  or  to  fail  saying  thank  yon,  which  two  words  are 
not  very  long,  after  the  request  is  granted,  and  though  a 
long  article  might  be  presented  to  my  readers  on  the  im- 
propriety of  permitting  children  to  order  the  assistance  of 
servants,  on  the  most  trivial  occasions,  when  time  and 
health  both  permitted  the  execution  of  the  office  by  the 
party   making  the  demand ;   still,  let   it  suffice   for  the 


PAKENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  67 

present  to  say,  that  children  should  not  only  early  be 
taugbt  to  help  themselves,  but  all  early  buddings  crushed 
which  may  savor  of  a  cowardly  disposition  to  tyranise 
or  domineer  over  those  whom  time,  chance,  or  fortune, 
may  have  placed  in  their  power,  else  that  child  may 
become,  as  Themistocles  said  on  a  certain  occasion, 
pointing  to  a  child,  "  That  little  boy  you  see  there  is  the 
arbiter  of  all  Greece,  for  he  governs  my  mother,  my  mother 
rules  me,  I  the  Athenians,  and  the  Athenians  all  other 
Greeks." 


CHAPTER  X. 

Parents  generally  in  our  common  district  schools  do 
not  attach  that  importance  which  the  subject  demands  in 
selecting  a  teacher  who  must  more  or  less  make  his 
impress  upon  the  tender  minds  of  their  children,  not 
only  in  respect  to  the  knowledge  of  letters,  in  connection 
with  moral  and  religious  deportment,  but  rather,  in  some 
instances,  apparently  wholly  absorbed  in  inquiring  the 
lowest,  salary  or  wages  to  be  paid.  It  may  be  said  that 
this  question  is  the  legitimate  province  of  the  trustees. 
To  a  certain  extent,  granted ;  but  it  rarely  occurs  that  a 
teacher  is  hired  without  an  extension  of  common  courtesy 
by  those  officers,  in  inquiring  generally  the  pleasure  of 
those  from  v.'hom  they  derive  their  trust. 

Again,  it  may  be  "urged  that  neither  the  trustees  or 
parents  have  a  right  to  object  to  anything  which  comes 
clothed  with  a  written  commission  from  an  officer  legally 
appointed  to  judge  of  his  capability  in  point  of  literary 
attainments,  as  well  as  moral  character;  to  a  certain 
extent,  true  again  ;  but  no  set  of  trustees  or  parents  of 
any  common  school  district  are  forced  to  employ  a 
teacher  merely  because  he  is  invested  by  town  superin- 
tendent or  school  inspectors  with  such  a  certificate,  and 
as  far  as  possible,  both  trustees  and  parents  should 
endeavor  to  know  the  man  under  whose  auspices  they 
are  about  to  place  their  children,  even  if  it  subjects  to  a 
loss   or   participation  of  the   public   fund;    but   as  this 


68  PAPvENTS    AND   CHILDREN. 

knowledge  is  not  always  attainable,  necessity  obliges  a 
strong  reliance  on  the  course  pursued  by  law,  and  even 
from  this  source  certificates  are  not  unfrequently  obtained 
as  is  a  kiss,  by  favor,  or  those  authorized  to  examine 
the  candidate  may  have  been  elected  by  a  convention, 
the  majority  of  which,  though  honest,  were  as  unenlight- 
ened in  letters  or  the  moral  character  of  the  nominee,  as 
an  ostler  of  whom  I  once  heard,  when  interrogated,  in 
the  absence  of  other  inmates,  by  a  gentleman  just  arriving 
at  an  inn,  what  was  the  general  news  of  the  day,  replied, 
that  oats  had  risen  in  price,  but  straw  had  fallen. 

I  am  an  advocate  in  bringing  all  elections,  as  far  as  pru- 
dence will  permit,  direct  to  the  people.  But  in  selecting 
so  important  an  officer  as  an  inspector  or  superintendent 
of  our  common  schools,  I  would  recommend  his  appoint- 
ment by  a  board  of  supervisors,  dividing  the  county  into 
four  districts,  each  having  a  superintendent,  with  a  salary 
of  four  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  whose  exclusive 
attention,  five  days  out  of  each  week,  would  be  confined 
to  examining  and  superintending  two  schools  each  day, 
commencing  and  ending  with  either  the  morning  or  after- 
noon session,  and  w^hen  applicants,  as  teachers,  are  to  be 
examined,  let  such  examination  take  place  before  one  of 
his  schools,  so  arranged  as  to  pass  through  the  district  in 
regular  succession.  This  course  would  not  only  lead  to 
something  more  than  a  regimental  review,  but  would 
stimulate  both  teacher  and  child,  and  the  cost  would  not 
exceed  the  present  adopted  course. 

In  connection  with  literary  and  moral  attainments,  a 
teacher  should  be  selected  who  possesses  common  sense, 
apt  to  teach,,  a  male,  and  very  desirable,  a  father  of  one 
or  more  children.  In  giving  preference  to  a  male,  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  understood  as  excluding  the  female  teacher, 
particularly  if  a  mother,  for  I  readily  admit  that  there 
are  at  the  present  day  many  instructresses  who  eclipse 
the  other  sex  as  teachers,  but  as  there  are  many  points 
or  principles  involved  in  the  education  of  a  child  which 
can  only  be  collected  or  gathered  from  the  great  book- 
world,  I  have  accordingly  preferred  the  male  teacher, 
whose  position  and  sphere  in  life  lead  him  more  to  mix 
with  his  fellow-men,  than  does  the  secluded,  innocent, 
beautiful,  and  bashful  walk  of  the  female. 

And  in  giving  preference  to  a  married  man,  the  father 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  69 

of  one  or  more  children,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  so  under- 
stood as  wholly  excluding  the  unmarried  man,  but 
merely  intend  to  lay  down  as  a  general  rule,  that  one 
who  is  a  father  would  be  more  likely  to  understand  the 
nature  and  disposition  of  a  child,  than  he  who  has  never 
attained  to  the  high  and  responsible  station  of  a  parent, 
and  consequently  is  very  deficient  in  exercising  the 
patience  of  Job,  an  indispensable  requisite  in  the  govern- 
ment of  a  school,  wiiere  not  only  a  variety  of  tempera- 
ment is  to  be  controlled,  but  also  the  whims  and  caprices 
of  unthankful  parents.  Taking  it  for  granted  that  w^e 
have  a  teacher  properly  qualified,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  furnish  a  convenient  house  in  w^hich  he  may  discharge 
his  duties,  and  as  it  not  unfrequently  happens,  particu- 
larly in  the  winter  season,  that  fifty  or  more  scholars  are 
daily  found  in  attendance  even  in  an  obscure  corner  of 
the  country,  the  building  should  not  only  be  sufl&ciently 
capacious,  substantially  built,  and  so  arranged  with 
windows  as  to  reflect  light  on  every  scholar  in  whatever 
position  he  may  be  placed,  but  also  with  two  apartments 
so  constructed  as  to  enable  the  teacher  to  have  an  eye  of 
supervision  on  both,  and  thereby  one  of  the  apartments, 
to  be  occupied  by  the  larger  and  more  advanced  scholars, 
who,  freed  from  unavoidable  hindrances  on  the  part  of 
smaller  and  less  advanced  pupils,  might  profitably,  in 
many  cases,  assist  themselves.  Writing-tables,  with  all 
the  seats  of  the  house,  should  be  so  constructed  as  to 
meet  all  sizes  of  children,  with  their  feet  conveniently 
touching  the  floor,  and  for  that  class  mostly  occupying 
but  one  position  throughout  all  the  hours  of  study  a  book- 
piece  or  support  should  be  attached.  In  connection  with 
this  house  at  least  half  an  acre  of  land  should  be  attached 
for  a  general  play-ground,  with  a  ball-alley  or  court,  for 
use  as  already  before  stated.  About  eighty  rods  from  the 
school-house  and  play-ground  should  be  erected  a  neat 
and  convenient  cottage,  with  two  acres  of  land  for  the 
free  use  and  occupancy  of  the  teacher  and  his  family. 
And  in  addition  to  all  this  it  would  be  advisable,  with 
plain  seats  or  a  small  rostrum  to  prepare  a  place  immedi- 
ately over  the  school-room,  with  a  separate  entrance,  in 
which  the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  of  whatever  name 
or  sect,  might  occasionally  meet  for  divine  or  public  wor- 
ship, without  a  subsequent  annoyance  to  the  teacher,  by 


70  PARENTS    AND   CHILDREN. 

the  abuse  to  books  or  other  derangements  of  his  school 
furniture.  At  the  season  of  the  year  requiring  fire,  the 
wood  should  be  supplied  by  the  employers,  properly 
suited  for  use  in  an  open  stove  or  fire-place,  and  the 
building  of  such  fire  be  performed  by  the  teacher  half  an 
hour  before  breakfast,  which  meal  finished,  he  should 
return  to  his  school-room  at  least  one  hour  previous  to 
the  regular  time  for  opening  the  morning  session,  em- 
ploying this  hour  in  making  and  repairing  pens  from  the 
goose-quill,  for  such  scholars  as  are  not  capable  to  per- 
form the  work  for  themselves,  with  proper  arrangement 
of  all  the  writing-books,  as  to  copies,  with  at  least  a 
reservation  of  twenty  minutes  in  commencing  to  hear 
recitations  from  those  who  may  attend  before  the  school 
is  called  to  order,  as  its  progress  may  warrant,  even  from 
one  not  advanced  beyond  monosyllables  to  those  seeking 
for  the  knov.dedge  of  rules  governing  arithmetic  and 
English  grammar. 

A  teacher,  aside  from  his  literary,  moral,  or  religious 
attainments,  must  by  his  employers  be  furnished  with 
necessary  implements  or  tools  whereby  he  may  advan- 
tageously or  properly  discharge  his  duties — a  knowledge 
of  astronomy  and  geography  not  only  proves  useful  to 
man  in  many  of  his  intercourses  with  the  world,  but  also 
gives  him  high  and  noble  views  of  his  Creator,  which 
sciences  cannot  successful  1)^  be  taught  without  the  assis- 
tance of  a  celestial  and  terrestrial  globe,  both  of  which  suf- 
ficiently large,  can  be  purchased  at  the  present  day  for  less 
than  twenty-five  dollars,  and  although  the  sons  of  farmers 
and  mechanics  m^ay  never  attain  to  all  the  high  branches 
in  mathematics,  still  they  should  be  so  instructed  in  sur- 
veying as  to  know  f6r  themselves  when  in  after  life  pur- 
chasing a  farm  or  any  tract  of  land,  whether  the  hired 
surveyor  has  made  his  survey  and  calculations  correctly. 
To  this  end  a  surveying  apparatus  should  be  attached  to 
every  common  district  school,  and  an  occasional  practical 
illustrationgiven  by  the  teacher  when  the  days  are 
long,  of  one  or  two  hours  after  the  close  of  his  afternoon 
session. 

Complaints  are  at  the  present  day  very  prevalent 
throughout  almost  every  common  district  school  by  both 
teachers  and  employers  as  to  books,  and  it  is  to  behoped 
the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  these  complaints  will  find 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  71 

less  foundation  for  their  existence,  'oy  a  prescribed  order 
from  the  state  superintendent  of  our  common  schools. 
Parents  or  employers  complain  of  expense,  from  the  fact 
that  almost  every  new  teacher  requires  a  different  set  of 
books  from  those  used  by  his  predecessor — on  the  other 
hand,  the  teacher  complains  of  his  employers  for  furnish- 
ing books  which  are  unfit  to  meet  the  capacities  of  their 
children,  but  also  forbid  a  profitable  progress  in  the  great 
chain  of  learning.  Besides,  from  variety,  so  annoying  is 
the  classification  of  his  scholars,  as  to  render  twenty  more 
perplexing  and  diflScult  to  instruct  than  sixty  otherwise 
furnished,  with  a  proper  and  uniform  set  of  books. 

Every  scholar  seeking  improvement  in  wa'iting,  should 
be  furnished  with  not  less  at  any  one  time  than  six  sheets 
of  good  foolscap  paper,  quarto  folded,  and  secured  by  a 
cover;  those  in  arithmetic  with  not  less  than  two  quires 
of  similar  paper,  and  alike  covered  ;  a  third  and  fourth 
book,  each  two  quires,  six  inches  wide,  and  so  ruled  as 
to  answer  for  a  day-book  and  petty  ledger,  with  a  soft 
slate  and  pencil.  Every  writer,  in  addition  to  his  paper, 
whether  in  arithmetic  or  not,  should  be  furnished  on  com- 
mencing school  with  a  plummet  ruler,  sponge,  ink-stand, 
pen-knife,  and  a  soft  piece  of  fine  muslin,  four  by  six 
inches,  the  latter  safely  and  conveniently  fastened  on  the 
left  outside  of  its  desk,  and  six  good  goose-quills,  free 
from  hot  water  or  the  oven,  which  are  to  be  handed  over 
to  the  teacher,  and  used  as  common  stock,  either  made  or 
repaired,  as  already  described,  when  the  school  is  not  in 
session  ;  but  in  this  advice,  I  would  not  wnsh  to  be  so 
understood  as  withholding  an  early  attention  in  instruct- 
ing the  pupil  so  as  to  make  and  mend  his  or  her  own  pens 
from  the  quill,  and  never  resort  to  the  lazy  introduction 
of  a  steel  pen  so  long  as  a  goose  can  be  found.  And  in 
order  to  complete  the  school  furniture,  a  water-pail,  tin 
cup,  broom,  shovel  and  tongs,  with  a  regular  set  of  scales 
and  weights,  from  half  an  ounce  regularly  increased  to 
seven  pounds,  a  small  box  containing  half  a  bushel  of 
dry  sand  and  tin  scoop,  half  a  pound  of  wrapping  twine, 
two  quires  of  wrapping  paper,  a  ball  of  narrow  strips  of 
cloth  weighing  about  one  pound,  scissors,  needle  and 
thread,  with  a  table  three  by  six  feet,  and  its  margins 
containing  the  regular  divisions  or  marks  of  the  yard 
measure,  and  also  a  gallon  keg  filled  with  water,  with  a 


72     -  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

suitable  spigot  affixed,  three  tin  measures,  gill,  half  pint, 
and  pint,  three  one  quart  and  three  two  quart  earthen 
jugs,  a  peck  of  corn-cobs,  a  six  quart  tin  pail,  with  a  clean 
napkin,  and  lastly,  about  one  hundred  mimic  coins, 
dressed  or  cut  from  slate,  purporting  to  vary  in  value 
from  a  cent  to  a  dollar.  And  as  many  of  these  articles 
are  only  occasionally  to  be  used,  care  must  be  taken  not 
only  to  prevent  their  injury,  but  also  guard  against  becom- 
ing an  incu,mbrance  to  the  school.  And  as  wealth  and 
happiness  are  very  desirable  attainments  in  passing 
through  the  journey  of  life,  the  trustees  of  each  school 
should  cause  to  be  suspended  on  the  inner  walls  of  their 
district  school-house,  four  suitable  frames  with  glasses, 
so  arranged  in  their  divisions,  in  a  legible  hand  writing, 
as  to  exhibit  daily  to  the  eye  of  each  scholar  the  follow- 
ing ninety-one  proverbs  or  sayings  of  Solomon  and  Dr. 
B.  Franklin  : 

1.  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and  with  the 
first  fruits  of  all  thine  increase  ;  so  shall  thy  barns  be 
filled  with  plenty,  and  thy  presses  shall  burst  out  with 
new  wine. 

2.  Give  not  sleep  to  thine  eyes,  nor  slumber  to  thine 
eyelids. 

3.  Go  to  the  ant  thou  sluggard,  consider  her  ways  and 
be  wdse  :  which  having  no  guide,  overseer,  or  ruler,  pro- 
videth  her  meat  in  the  summer,  and  gathereth  her  food  in 
the  harvest. 

4.  Hebecometh  poor  that  dealeth  with  a  slack  hand  : 
the  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh  rich. 

5.  As  vinegar  to  the  teeth,  and  as  smoke  to  the  eyes, 
so  is  the  sluggard  to  them  that  send  him. 

6.  A  false  balance  is  an  abomination  to  the  Lord,  but 
a  just  w^eight  is  his  delight. 

7.  When  pride  cometh,  then  cometh  shame,  but  with 
the  holy  is  wisdom. 

^.  He  that  is  surety  for  a  stranger  shall  smart  for  it ; 
he  that  hateth  surety  is  sure. 

9.  There  is  that  scattereth  yet  increaseth,  and  there  is 
that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth  to 
poverty. 

10.  The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat,  and  he  that 
watereth  shall  be  watered  also  himself. 


PARENTS   AND    CHILDREN-,  73 

11.  He  that  trusteth  in  his  riches  shrill  fall,  but  the 
righteous  shall  flourish  as  a  branch. 

12.  A  virtuous  woman  is  a  crown  to  her  husband,  but 
she  that  maketh  ashamed  is  as  rottenness  to  his  bones. 

13.  Lying  lips  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord,  but 
they  that  deal  truly  are  his  delights. 

14.  The  soul  of  the  sluggard  desireth  and  hath  nothing, 
but  the  soul  of  the  diligent  shall  be  made  fat, 

15.  There  is  that  maketh  rich  yet  hath  nothing,  there 
is  that  maketh  him.self  poor  yet  hath  great  riches. 

16.  Wealth  gotten  by  vanity  shall  be  diminished,  but 
he  that  gathereth  by  labor  shall  increase. 

17.  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick,  but  when  the 
desire  cometh  it  is  a  tree  of  life. 

18.  He  that  vralketh  with  wise  men  shall  be  wise,  but 
a  companion  of  fools  shall  be  destroyed. 

19.  A  good  man  leaveth  an  inheritance  to  his  children, 
and  the  wealth  of  the  sinner  is  laid  up  for  the  just. 

20.  He  that  spareth  the  rod  hateth  his  own  son,  but  he 
that  loveth  him  chasteneth  betimes. 

21.  The  poor  is  hated  even  of  his  own  neighbors,  but 
the  rich  hath  many  friends. 

22.  A  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath,  but  grievous 
words  stir  up  anger. 

23.  Without  counsel  purposes  are  disappointed,  but  in 
the  multitude  of  counsels  they  are  established. 

24.  He  that  gathereth  in  summer  is  a  wise  son,  but  he 
that  sleepeth  in  harvest  is  a  son  which  causes  shame. 

25.  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed,  but  the  name 
of  the  wicked  shall  rot. 

26.  Riches  profiteth  nothing  in  the  day  of  wrath,  but 
righteousness  delivereth  from  death. 

27.  A  tale-bearer  revealeth  secrets,  but  he  that  is  Oi 
faithful  spirit  concealeth  the  matter. 

28.  Though  hand  join  in  hand,  the  wicked  shall  not  go 
unpunished,  but  the  seed  of  the  righteous  shall  be  deliv- 
ered. 

29.  As  a  jewel  of  gold  in  a  swine's  snout,  so  is  a  vain 
woman  without  discretion. 

30.  He  that  troubleth  his  own  house  shall  inherit  the 
wind,  and  the  fool  shall  be  servant  to  the  wise  of  heart. 

31.  The  lot  is  cast  into  the  lap,  but  the  whole  disposing 
thereof  is  the  Lord's. 

4 


74  PARl',NTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

32.  A  jvood  man  is  better  than  precious  ointment,  and 
the  day  of  one's  death  than  the  day  of  one's  birth. 

33.  Whatsoever  thy  hand  fmdeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy 
might,  for  their  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge, 
nor  wisdom  in  the  grave,  whither  thou  goest. 

34.  By  much  sloth  fulness  the  building  decay  eth,  and 
through  idleness  of  hands  the  house  droppeth  through. 

35.  Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is 
the  whole  duty  of  man. 

Solomon. 

1.  A  word  to  the  wise  is  enough,  and  many  words 
won't  fill  a  bushel. 

2.  Sloth,  like  rust,  consumes  faster  than  labor  wears, 
while  the  used  key  is  always  bright. 

3.  Dost  thou  love  life,  then  do  not  squander  time,  for 
that  is  the  stuff  life  is  made  of. 

4.  Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise,  makes  a  man  healthy, 
wealthy,  and  wise. 

5.  Take  care  of  the  pence,  and  the  pounds  will  take 
care  of  themselves. 

6.  The  sleeping  fox  catches  no  poultry,  and  there  is 
sleeping  enough  in  the  grave. 

7.  Lost  time  is  never  found  again,  and  what  we  call 
time  enough  proves  little  enough. 

8.  Sloth  makes  all  things  difficult,  but  industry  all 
things  easy. 

9.  He  that  rises  late  must  trot  all  day,  and  shp.ll 
scarcely  overtake  his  business  at  night. 

10.  Drive  thy  business,  and  let  not  thy  business  drive 
thee. 

11.  He  that  lives  upon  hope  will  die  fasting. 

12.  There  games  without  pains,  then  help  hands  I 
have  no  hands. 

13.  He  that  hath  a  trade  hath  an  estate,  and  he  that 
hath  a  calling  hath  an  office  of  profit  and  honor. 

14.  At  the  industrious  man's  house  hunger  looks  in,  but 
durst  not  enter. 

15.  Industry  pays  debis,  but  despair  increases  them. 

16.  Diligence  is  the  mother  of  good  luck. 

17.  Plow  deep,  while  sluggards  sleep,  and  you  will 
have  corn  to  sell  and  keep. 


PARENTS    AND    CIIiLmiEN.  75 

18.  Let  not  the  sun  look  down  and  say,  inglorious 
here  he  lies  to  day. 

19.  Handle  your  tools  without  mittens,  the  cat  in 
gloves  can  catch  no  mice. 

20.  Continued  droppings  wear  a  large  stone. 

21.  By  diligence  and  patience  the  mouse  ate  through 
the  cable. 

22.  Small  strokes  fell  great  oaks. 

23.  Fly  pleasures  and  they  will  follow  you. 

24.  The  diligent  spinner  has  a  large  shift. 

25.  It  is  hard  for  an  empty  bag  to  stand  upright. 

26.  Keep  thy  shop  and  thy  shop  will  keep  thee. 

27.  If  you  would  have  your  business  done,  go,  if  not, 
send. 

28.  He  that  hy  the  plow  would  thrive,  himself  must" 
either  hold  or  drive. 

29.  The  ^ye  of  his  master  does  more  work  than  his 
hands. 

30.  Want  of  care  does  more  damage  than  the  want  of 
knowledge. 

31.  Learning  is  to  the  studious,  ai\d  riches  to  the  care- 
ful, as  well  as  powei"  to  the  bold,  and  heaven  to  the 
virtuous. 

32.  If  you  would  have  a  faithful  servant,  and  one  that 
you  would  like,  serve  yourself. 

33.  A  fat  kitchen  makes  a  lean  w^ll. 

34.  What  maintains  one  vice  would  rear  two  children. 

35.  Women,  and  game,  and  deceit,  makes  the  wealth 
small  and  the  v.-ant  great. 

36.  Beware  of  little  expense,  a  small  leak  sinks  a  large 
ship. 

37.  Waste  not,  want  not. 

38.  Many  a  little  makes  a  mickle. 

39.  Who  dainties  love,  shall  beggars  prove. 

40.  Fools  make  feasts,  and  wise  m.en  eat  them. 

41.  Silks,  satins,  scarlets,  and  velvets,  put  out  the 
kitchen  fire. 

42.  A  plowman  on  his  knees  is  higher  than  a  gentle- 
man on  his  legs. 

43.  If  you  would  know  the  value  of  money,  try  and 
borrow  some. 

44.  Who  goes  a-borrowing  goes  a-sorrowing. 


76  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

45.  Many  without  labor  would  live  by  their  wits  only, 
but  they  break  for  want  of  stock. 

46.  Not  to  oversee  workmen  is  to  leave  them  your 
open  puise. 

47.  A  man,  if  he  knows  not  how  to  save  as  he  gets, 
keeps  his  nose  all  his  life  to  the  grind-stone,  and  dies  not 
with  a  groat. 

48.  When  women  gad  the  house  runs  mad. 

49.  If  you  would  bo  rich,  think  of  saving  as  well  as 
getting. 

50.  The  Indies  have  not  made  Spain  rich,  because  the 
outgoings  are  greater  than  her  income. 

51.  Buy  what  thou  hast  no  need  of,  and  before  long 
thou  wilt  sell  thy  necessaries. 

52.  At  a  great  penny-worth  pause  a  W'hile. 

53.  Wise  men  learn  by  others'  harms,  a  fool  scarcely  by 
his  own. 

Dr.  B.  Franklin. 

In  speaking  of  the  discipline  or  course  to  be  pursued 
by  a  teacher  in  conducting  and  governing  a  school,  I 
trust  I  shall  not  be  so  understood  as  actuated  by  a  spirit 
of  dictation,  but  rather  that  of  humble  suggestion,  and 
taking  it  for  granted  that  the  hour  9  o'clock,  a.  m.,  Mon- 
day, has  arrived,  the  teacher  is  to  call  his  school  to  order, 
and  so  preserved  throughout  the  morning  session  of  three 
hours  as  to  prevent  anarchy  or  confusion,  which  desirable 
obj.ect  may  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  be  secured  by  not 
only  having  a  place  for  everything,  but  everything  in  its 
place  ;  and  also  by  the  cordial  co-operation  of  parents  or 
guardians  in  instructing  their  children  at  home,  not  only 
to  respect,  but  promptly  to  obey,  all  reasonable  and  lawful 
commands  of  those  under  whose  auspices  they  may 
respectively  be  placed  as  subjects  for  improvement ;  and, 
as  all  sound  knowledge  and  wisdom  alone  flows  from  our 
Heavenly  Father,  let  tJie  mornintg  exercises  of  the  school 
commence  by  reading  a  portion,  at  least  one  chapter,  of 
the  Bible,  out  of  which  blessed  book  we  are  assured 
springs  or  flows  the  healthful  issue  of  life,  and  so  far  as 
the  reading  of  the  chapter  may  involve  historical  facts, 
let  the  teacher  enlarge  ;  but,  in  every  instance,  where 
the  passage  leads  directly  or  indirectly  to  doctrinal  or 
sectarian  views,  let  it  pass  without  note  or  comment,  as 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  77 

this  is  a  reserved  right  or  province  of  the  parent  or  guar- 
dian. However  desirable  to  have  all  our  schools,  seeking 
mental  improvement,  opened  by  prayer,  and  notwith- 
standing teachers  may  possess  a  certificate  for  moral  char- 
acter, still,  not  so  far  advanced  in  divine  favor  as  in  pub- 
lic to  give  courage  or  confidence  to  seek  or  ask  a  blessing 
direct  from  the  throne  of  grace,  or  if  he  has  the  heavenly 
and  divine  implantation  so  fixed  in  his  heart  as  to  give 
full  confidence  in  public  prayer ;  still  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  in  his  early  religious  education  he  had  been 
taught  and  conformed  to  favor  some  peculiar  views  of  his 
own  church,  and  thus,  in  his  zeal,  ask  or  admit  those 
things  which  by  many  of  his  employers,  equally  honest 
with  himself,  were  contrarily  held,  viewed,  or  understood, 
and  thus  innocently  create  such  a  schism  or  discord 
fls  to  ultimately  lead  to  the  downfall  or  overthrow  of 
his  school.  But  by  bringing  before  him  in  one  class 
every  scholar,  from  the  understanding  reader,  down  to 
the  mechanical,  or  one  just  seeking  the  formation  of 
words  into  sentences,  and  cause  each  scholar  of  the  class 
alternately  so  to  read  a  verse  that  the  whole  will  pass 
twice  around  in  a  chapter,  as  already  prescribed.  As  to 
note  or  comment  no  objection  can  reasonably  be  raised 
by  any  denomination  professing  the  warmest  and  most 
scrupulous  attachment  for  our  holy  religion,  or  even  inti- 
mate a  seed  of  injury  while  much  good  may  be  antici- 
pated. The  sacredness  of  the  Bible,  in  connexion  with 
many  ungrammatical  passages,  render  it  an  un^-uitable 
standard  as  a  common  reading-book  for  any  school  forther 
than  already  herein  named,  when  it  should  be  laid  aside 
for  the  remainder  of  the  day,  after  a  review  by  the  whole 
class  for  such  other  books  as  shall  oi;,  may  have  become 
the  adopted  or  standard  works  for  the  use  of  our  common 
schools,  never  forgetting  that  a  spelling-book  and  a  dic- 
tionary constitute  no  inconsiderable  auxiliaries  in  extend- 
ing the  great  chain  of  early  progressive  learning,  a  copy 
of  which  should  be  furnished  each  scholar,  and  the  latter 
always  to  be  consulted  when  occasion  may  require, 
whether  in  school  or  at  home  ;  next,  the  teacher  should 
proceed  to  hear  the  tasks  of  such  scholars  as  had  not 
favored  him  with  their  attendance  before  9  o'clock,  com- 
mencing with  one  just  entering  his  monosyllables,  many 
words  of  which,  although  they^are  spelled  differently  and 


78  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

have  different  significations,  still  are  sounded  alike,  as 
site^  situation,  cite,  to  summon,  and  sight,  to  see  ;  and  so 
up  in  recitation  as  to  embrace  English  grammar,  arith- 
metic, or  other  branches  as  the  pupil  may  be  seeking 
information.  And  1  would  here  remark  that  the  parent 
or  guardian  failing  at  home  to  assist  the  child  in  thor- 
oughly committing  to  memory  its  morning  task,  offers  a 
direct  insult  to  the  teacher,  whose  time  during  school 
hours  should  unavoidably  be  engrossed  with  other  duties 
than  those  which  can  be  performed  by  the  pupil  at 
home.  The  morning  recitation  closed,  the  teacher  is  to 
select  one  of  his  best  scholars  as  an  usher  or  assistant 
teacher  for  the  day  being,  and  immediately  proceed  in 
the  presence  of  the  usher  to  exercise  a  child  yet  in  its 
alphabet  or  confined  to  the  spelling-book. 

No  book  to  be  employed  in  teaching  a  child  its  alpha- 
bet, the  letters  of  which  are  to  be  made  first  by  the 
teacher  in  sand,  and  the  name  of  each  given,  and  then 
followed  or  imited  by  the  child,  commencing  with  the  O. 
1,  straight  mark,  b,  d,  p,  q,  and  not  until  all  the  small  letters 
are  perfectly  known  is  the  child  to  have  exhibited  to  its 
view  the  capitals  or  larger  letters,  which  in  similarity- 
bear  but  little,  if  any,  resemblance  to  the  smaller  letters  ; 
and  this  reminds  me  of  a  boy  aged  twelve  years,  who 
denied,  through  the  parsimony  of  his  parents,  all  partici- 
pation in  the  science  of  letters,  was,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  free  schools,  permitted  to  seek  improvement 
ns  to  scholastic  matters,  and  the  teacher  showing  him  the 
large  letter  A,  was  commanded  so  to  pronounce  it,  but 
did  not  comply  until  he  had  first  remarked,  "that's  A,  is 
it  1  it  looks  to  me  like  our  old  dad's  drag  ;"  and  the  large 
letter  B,  he  considered  an  ox  yoke.  The  usher  thus 
directed  as  to  the  plan  or  mode  in  teaching  the  young 
pupil,  he  is  without  the  assistance  of  the  teacher,  to  cause 
the  child,  in  a  lovv'  voice,  to  repeat  the  same  lesson,  until 
otherwise  ordered,  commencing  with  the  first  and  ending 
on  the  last  heard  ;  and  those  who  may  have  recited  their 
morning  tasks,  and  during  the  time  occupied  in  exercis- 
ing the  young  beginner,  can  employ  the  time  in  making 
themselves  master  or  mistress  of  a  column  in  the  diction- 
ary, which  by  all  the  readers,  is  to  constitute  a  spelling 
lesson,  at  the  close  of  the  morning  session.  At,  or  about 
ten  o'clock,  the  teacher  is  to  deliver  to  each  scholar,  seek- 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  79^ 

ing  improvement  in  writing,  a  blank  book  (save  a  copy) 
with  a  proper  pen  in  which  the  scholar  is  to  occupy  half 
an  hour,  with  the  occasional  assistance  of  the  teacher  as 
to  the  position  of  the  body  and  holding  of  the  pen,  which 
latter,  should  it  require  repair  before  the  copy  is  finished, 
is  to  be  placed  in  a  box  standing  on  the  teacher's  desk, 
marked  "  poor  pens,"  and  receive  another,  as  the  hand- 
writing may  require,  from  another  box  marked  "  repaired 
pens  ;"  and  as  it  is  not  probable  that  any  one  writer  will 
exhaust  his  five  supernumerary  pens  in  finishing  one  copy, 
the  teacher  will  be  free  from  pen  repairing  during  the  hours 
of  the  morning  session,  and  thereby  enable  him  more 
profitably  to-direct  and  instruct  his  writing  class  during 
the  assigned  half  hour,  which,  being  closed,  a  recess  of 
ten  minutes,  or  absence  be  granted  to  all  the  girls,  dur- 
ing which,  let  the  teacher  exercise  a  class  of  boys  in 
arithmetic ;  the  girls  returned,  let  the  same  privilege  be 
granted  to  the  boys,  and  during  their  absence,  let  a  class 
of  girls  in  arithmetic  also  he  exercised. 

The  school  once  more  in  full  session,  every  reading 
class  in  advance  of  the  spelling-book,  should  review  their 
respective  lessons,  while  the  teacher  again  with  the  usher 
hears  the  recitations  from  his  alphabetical  and  spelling- 
book  pupils,  testing  the  knowledge  of  orthography  ;  in 
the  latter  with  books  closed,  after  which,  the  teacher  will 
proceed  to  hear,  in  order,  his  respective  higher  reading 
classes,  and  endeavor  in  his  own  proper  voice  so  to 
read,  as  to  fix  upon  the  minds  of  his  class,  the  diiference 
between  an  understanding  and  a  mechanical  reader, 
which  can  only  be  acquired  by  entering  into  the  spirit 
and  feeling  of  the  author,  by  the  knowledge  of  words  in 
connexion  with  various  defined  marks  of  punctuation. 

As  these  lessons  are  in  order  finished,  let  the  know- 
ledge of  each  scholar  be  tested  in  orthography  by  their 
books  closed,  from  some  of  the  most  difficult  v.ords  era- 
braced  in  their  lesson,  with  an  examination  of  the  whole 
subject;  next,  let  all  the  writing  books  (and  pens  cleans- 
ed by  means  of  the  soft,  fine  piece  of  muslin  already 
mentioned),  be  returned  and  placed  on  the  teacher's  desks; 
when,  again,  all  the  higher  classes  in  reading  will  review 
the  already  pointed  out  column  in  the  dictionary,  during 
which  time  let  the  usher  amuse  his  small  pupils  by  ex- 
ercising them  in  the  multiplication  table  which  can  ad- 


80  -       PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

vantageously  be  performed  notwithstanding  they  are  only 
commencing  to  form  sylables  into  words,  and  taking  it 
for  granted  that  we  have  twenty  minutes  left  in  arriving 
at  the  meridian  of  the  day,  let  all  the  scholars,  not  includ- 
ing the  usher's  class,  appoint  two  captains  who  shall 
alternately  select  from  the  school  his  company,  when 
the  teacher  shall  proceed  to  test  their  knowledge  in  spell- 
ing, with  closed  dictionaries,  out  of  the  column  already 
named,  keeping  an  account  as  to  which  side  not  only  cor- 
rectly spelt,  but  defined  the  greatest  number  of  words  ; 
during  which  time,  the  usher  is  again  to  exercise  his 
alphabetical  and  spelling  class. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

From  the  15th  of  April  to  the  same  day  following  in 
October,  a  recess  or  adjournment  from  twelve  o'clock, 
M.,  till  two  o'clock,  P.M.,  is  to  be  granted  to  all  the 
scholars,  which  will  afford  not  only  full  time  to  refresh 
themselves  by  dinner,  but  also  to  engage  in  those  sports  of 
the  open  air,  necessary  for  the  health  of  both  the  body 
and  the  mind  ;  the  remaining  six  months  of  the  year  will 
only  admit  of  one  hour  noon  intermission,  and  under  this 
arrangement  the  afternoon  session  is  to  commence  by 
every  scholar  for  fifteen  minutes  (not  confined  to  the 
spelling:  book),  to  quietly  endeavor  to  inform  itself  as  to 
i  s  first  reading  lesson,  which  in  every  instance  should  not 
in  length  extend  so  as  to  prevent  a  consultation,  or  exami- 
nation of  the  dictionary  as  to  tb.e  meaning  of  words  beyond 
its  present  powers  to  comprehend,  and  while  this  duty  is 
pe: formed,  let  the  teacher,  with  his  usher,  commence  the 
instruction  of  his  juvenile  classes,  and  so  continue  in 
order  throughout  the  afternoon  as  pursued  in  the  morning 
session.  And  as  the  classes  proceed  in  regular  order  to 
read  from  No.  1  to  2,  or  more,  as  circumstances  may 
require,  let  each  up  to  the  time  of  afternoon  intermission, 
apply  him,  or  herself  to  the  study  of  English  grammar,  a 
lesson  in  which  should  never  be  required  without  the 
teacher  having  first  lectured  in  open  school  at  least  ten 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDRKN.  81 

minutes  on  the  subject,  in  a  plain  and  familiar  manner; 
and  while  this  method  cannot  otherwise  than  reasonaLly 
be  supposed  to  benefit  the  young  beginner,  no  injury  can 
be  sustained  by  those  5-:cholars  not  engaged  for  the  time 
present  in  this  all-important  branch  of  English  education  ; 
after  having  passed  the  afternoon  intermission  in  the 
same  order  as  that  of  the  morning,  let  ten  minutes  be 
allowed  to  the  first  reading  class  in  preparing  for  a  second 
lesson,  with  such  further  time  to  all  the  other  reading 
classes  as  may  lapse  by  reaching  them  in  a  regular  order. 
Th£  second  lessons  read,  all  the  grammarians  who  have 
passed  through  syntax,  should  be  brought  into  one  class 
and  their  knowledge  tested  (by  parsing)  as  to  the  con- 
struction or  formation  of  words  into  sentences. 

All  l-esso-ns,  on  wdiatever  subject,  should  be  short  and 
thoroughly  compreh-ended  by  the  pupil  before  a  new 
one  is  enjoined,  which,  to  a  great  extent,  may  be 
a-ccelerated  by  pleasing  familiarity  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher,  so  governed  and  directed,  how^ever,  as  not  to 
lose  sight  of  the  dignified  position  in  which  he  stands 
before  his  school,  for  familiarity  in  all  the  intercoui'ses  of 
man  wntli  his  fellow  man,  unless  very  cautiously  indulged 
in,  lead  to  contempt,  disrcsp-ect,  and,  consequently,  loss 
of    usefulness. 

The  exercises  in  the  grammar-class  closed,  we  may 
fairly  suppose  ourselves  barely  possessed  of  time  to 
prepare  for  the  general  evening's  spelling,  which  per- 
formed as  in  the  morning  session  all  scholars  are  to  be 
dismissed  at  5  o'clock,  p.  m.,  for  their  respective  homes, 
except  the  detention  one  hour  of  four,  wdien  the  days 
are  at  least  twelve  hours  long,  who  vrrite,  and  in  arith- 
metic have  passed  compound  division,  for  the  purpose  of 
transacting  the  business  of  a  mimic  or  m.ock  store,  which 
is  to  be  commenced  by  the  introduction  of  the  table, 
scales,  weights,  measures,  &c.,  &c.,  as  has  already  pre- 
viously been  directed.  Two  scholars  as  clerks  and  the 
teacher  as  principal,  or  owner  of  the  store,  are  to  stand 
at  the  margin  of  the  table  containing  the  yard  measure 
with  its  sub-divisions,  while  the  other  two,  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  tal)le,  are  to  represent  applicants  or  cus- 
tomers for  merchandize,  and  all  for  the  best ;  if  one  is  a 
girl,  with  a  tin  pail  half-filled  with  chips  and  clean  stones, 
fieci  red  on  the  top  by  a  napkin  or  to w^,  the  contents 
4* 


82  PARENTS    AND    CHILDRkN, 

represented  as  butter,  and  desires  to  know  the  then 
giving  price  ;  the  principal,  or  one  of  the  clerks,  replies 
16  cts.,  vipon  which  it  would  be  in  order  for  the  owner  of 
the  butter  to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  higher  price,  and  if 
nothing  more,  pence  instead  of  cents. 

The  pail   with  the  appendage  and  contents  weighed, 
the  supposed  butter  is  to  be  deposited  in  a  proper  place 
of  the    cellar   by  one  of  the  clerks,  first   rainuting  on  a 
slate  the  weight,  which  we  will  suppose  7  lbs.  3  oz.  and 
•by  the  teacher  explained  as  the  gross,  next  the   emjjty 
pail  and  cloth  are  to  be  w^eighed,   which  we   will   again 
suppose  IS  1  lb.  6oz.  and  denominated  tare,  which  subtract- 
ed from  the  gross  leaves  5  lbs,  13  ox.  net  or  true  weight  of 
butter,  amounting  at  16  cts.  per  pound  to  93  cts.,  then  we 
will  further  suppose  the  lady  customer  to  have  brought 
with  her  6  1-4  lbs.  of  rags,  at  3  1-2  cts.  per  pound  and  by  a 
rule  in  trade  the  seller  entitled  to  the  fraction  when  it  is 
five  or  more  mills,  as  to  demand  a  cent,  which  will  make 
the  rags  amount  to  22  cts.,  and  is  to  be  placed  under  the 
amount  of  the  butter,  she  lastly  offers  for  sale  9  5-12  doz, 
eggs,  which  are  accepted  by  the  merchant  at  10  cts.  per 
doz.,  which  gives  94  cts,,  the  seller  here  losing  the  frac- 
tion, in  conformity  with  the  principle  of  trade  just  laid 
down  which  latter  sum  added  to  those  of  the  butter,  and 
rags  makes  $2*09  cts.,  for  which  the  lady  customer  is  to 
receive  goods  Ivora  the  store  ;  and,  during  the  time  occu- 
pied in  ascertaining  the  tine  vr eight  of  the  butter,  rags,  and 
.  number  of  eggs,  with  the  several  calculations  as  to  value 
and  amount,  we  will  suppose  the  second  clerk  is  attending 
to  the  gentleman  customer,  in  measuring  off  cloths,  cassi- 
meres,   muslins,   &c.,  from  the  ball   of  narrow  strips  of 
cloth,  in  connexion  with  an  occasional  consultation  as  to 
the  number  of  yards  or  quantity  of  cloth  necessary  for 
several  defined  garments,  all  of  which  as  they  are  cut  off 
are  entered  in  the  day-book  with  prices  extended,  and  on 
which  several  purchases,  we  will  farther  suppose,  a  pay- 
ment (in  state  money)  of  about  half,  duly  placetl  to  his- 
credit.     But  before   the  goods   are  delivered  let    a  bill, 
setting   forth  each  article,  be   made   and   handed  to   the 
customer,   after  which  the   clerk  from    his  book    names 
each   article,    and   in    one  general   bundle    delivers    the 
same   to  his  customer,  which  from   necessity  to  keep  a 
mock  appearaltce  must  be  returned  and  properly  sewed  in 


I 


BARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  83 

in  strips  on  the  ball  ;  the  lady  then  asks  for  2  lbs.  coffee, 
12  cts.  per  lb. ;  7  lbs.  rice,  56  cts. ;  3  1-2  lbs.  brown  sugar, 
28  cts, ;  1-2  lb.  hyson  skin  tea,  44  cts.  per  lb.  ;  1-2  lb. 
young  hyson,  75  cts.  per  lb.  ;  1-2  lb.  ginger,  12  cts.  per 
lb. ;  3  lbs.  cheese,  10  cts.  per  lb. ;  1-2  lb.  starch,  9  cts. 
per  lb.  ;  2  oz.  Scotch  snuff,  31  cts.  per  lb.,  with  an  ounce 
of  indigo  at  $1  60  cts.  per  lb.  ;  all  of  which  articles  are 
to  be  obtained  from  the  sand-box,  and  after  being  properly 
wrapped  up  in  paper  and  secured  with  twine,  a  memo- 
randum of  each,  with  prices  affixed,  are  to  be  placed  on 
a  slate,  or  a  white  piece  of  paper,  and  a  bill  presented  to 
the  custom.er  showing  the  amount  traded,  $2  27  cts.,  and 
leaving  a  balance  due  to  the  merchant  of  18  cts.,  which  if 
as  a  balance  should  be  desired  by  the  lady  to  be  charged 
let  the  request  be  granted  (if  considered  safe  to  trust), 
by  transcribing  under  her  name  on  the  day-book  all  the 
articles,  with  extended  prices,  and  then  by  giving  credit 
in  the  same  way  for  her  barter,  the  balance  will  be  made 
to  appear  in  a  form  better  calculated  to  secure  future 
confidence  than  if  charged  as  a  balance.  In  this  transac- 
tion the  teacher  is  also  to  point  out  the  scrupulous  obser- 
vance for  justice  in  regard  to  fractions,  first  himself 
receiving  the  advantage  and  next  granting  it  to  the 
customer ;  and  should  molasses,  vinegar,  or  other  liquids 
be  wanted,  usually  sold  in  retail  stores,  they  are  to  be 
obtained  from  the  water-keg,  and  measured  in  the  tin 
measures  already  herein  described,  the  gill  to  represent  a 
pint,  half-pint  a  quart,  and  pint  a  half-gallon,  and  delivered 
in  the  jugs,  as  also  herein  described,  which  we  will  now 
suppose  as  the  property  of  the  customer,  with  a  gratuitous 
supply  of  corn-cobs  to  secure  the  same  against  loss,  but 
the  jugs  are  to  be  returned  and  once  a  week  cleansed, 
with  the  keg,  and  fresh  water  supplied. 

The  teacher  is  also  to  give  instructions  as  to  the  mode 
of  executing  receipts,  and  to  point  out  the  absurdity, 
upon  its  face  stamped  falsehood,  practised  by  many 
knowing  it  to  be  wrong,  wherein  receipts  not  unfre- 
quently  commence,  "  Received,  New  York,  &c.,"  which 
would  make  the  recipient  a  greater  giant  than  Hercules, 
or  with  a  larger  pocket  than  that  worn  by  the  venerable 
"  Old  Daddy" Lambert."  Again  a  receipt,  although  de- 
clared to  be  in  full  of  all  demands,  is  not  conclusive  nor 
bars  the  rectifying  errors  which  may  be.  subsequently  as- 


S4  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

certained  or  found  to  exist,  but  the  mentioned  sum  is 
no  more  than  prima  facia  evidence,  and  where  a  settle- 
ment between  parties  involve  an  amount  of  $100  let  this 
sum  be  expressed,  instead  of  $1 — ,  which  is  too  frequently 
practised,  even  by  those  professing  prudence  and  caution 
in  all  their  business  transactions.  The  drawing  of  pro- 
missory notes  should  also  claim  the  attention  of  the 
teacher,  and  his  pupils  be  informed  as  to  a  note,  when 
negotiable  and  when  not,  when  voidable  and  when  not, 
and  never  to  mention  the  name  of  the  place  in  the  note 
where  it  w-as  given,  by  which  means  it  is  payable,  when 
due,  in  any  town,  county,  or  state  in  the  Union.  This 
mimic  or  mock  store  is  to  continue  every  afternoon  for 
live  days  in  the  week,  and  when  the  days  are  not  twelve 
hours  long,  then  from  8  to  9  o'clock,  by  candle-light;  a 
new^  set  of  customers  and  clerks  selected  every  day  from 
his  school,  as  before  already  herein  directed,  and  after 
the  day-book  has  received  entries  for  five  days  let  his 
scholars,  in  regular  order,  post  the  same  in  the  ledger, 
under  the  name  of  the  creditor,  and  simply  setting  forth 
merchandi;^e,  with  not  only  the  date  and  amount  but 
also  the  page  from  whence  it  was  taken  in  the  day-book  ; 
these  two  books  in  ordinary  country  mercantile  transactions 
will  generally  prove  sufficient,  yet  in  some  cases  a  third 
(styled  a  blotter)  is  to  precede  the  day-book,  but  a  farmer  or 
mechanic,  not  conducting  an  extensive  business,  requires, 
but  one  book  denominated  a  daily  ledger.  And  it  may 
not  be  improper  for  a  teacher  to  instruct  his  pupils  in 
some  of  the  important  bearings  connected  with  written 
articles  of  agreement,  for  instance  A.  and  B.  covenant 
and  agree  with  each  other  to  perform  certain  things,  which 
either  party  failing  to  execute  one  hundred  dollars  is  in- 
serted as  a  penalty,  yet,  in  seeking  to  recover  tliis  penalty 
by  due  course  of  law,  no  greater  sum  can  be  recovered 
ihan  shall  clearly  be  proved  as  growing  out  of  the  breach 
or  non-fulfilment  of  any  one,  or  all  the  covenants,  but  by 
simply  stating  in  the  written  instrument  that  the  parties 
jaave  mutually  agreed  upon  the  one  hundred  dollars  as 
stipulated  damages,  then  neither  court  or  jury,  in  law, 
have  any  province  otherwise  to  determine. 

Tuesday  morning,  school  opens  at  the  ^ame  hour  and 
conducted  throughout  the  day  as  on  Monday,  excepting 
the  selecting  of  a  wqvs  usher,  and  arithmetic  substituted 


PARglNTS    AND    CIIILDBF-N.  85 

for  grammar.  Wednesday,  ditto,  excepting  grammar 
and  arithmetic,  sup])lying  geography  and  astrononiy, 
assisted  by  maps  and  the  use  of  the  globes. 

Thursday  all  the  branches  as  on  Monday,  Friday  as  on 
Tuesday,  and  on  Saturday  forenoon  no  writing  except 
transcribing  in  the  small  blank  book  (provided  for  the 
purpose)  ten  of  Solomon's  and  Franklin's  proverbs  al- 
ready exhibited  in  the  aforesaid  four  mentioned  frames, 
and  thus  continued  in  order  until  the  whole  is  not  only 
transcribed,  but  committed  to  memory  ;  after  which,  a 
short  composition  is  to  be  enforced  or  exacted  from  all 
the  large  or  more  advanced  scholars,  selecting  their  own 
subject,  and  in  two  weeks  next  succeeding,  receive  a 
criticism  on  each  composition  from  the  teacher  in  open 
school ;  in  connexion  with  Ids  mark  as  first,  second,  and 
third  best,  for  which  shall  be  given  by  the  teacher,  thus 
entitled  to  the  prize,  a  certificate,  and  at  the  end  of  six 
months  those  having  the  greatest  number  of  these  certifi- 
cates, should  have  awarded  by  the  trustees  of  the  school, 
three  premiums;  No.  1,  a  silver  medal  weighing  about 
half  an  once,  suspended  by  about  three  quarters  of  a  yard 
of  green  ribbon  ;  on  one  side  of  the  medal  is  engraved 
"  Reward  of  Merit,"  and  on  the  other,  the  name  of 
the  honored  scholar,  with  the  day,  month.,  and  year  pre- 
tsented  ;  the  second  prize  to  consist  of  a  handsome  and 
suitable  book,  costing  at  the  bookseller's  one  dollar,  and 
the  the  third  less  size  book  worth,  at  least,  fifty  cents, 
and  in  each  of  these  books  is  a  card  to  be  placed,  sotting 
forth  not  only  the  name,  but  also  the  honored  circi#i- 
stances  under  which  it  was  obtained.  These  three  pre- 
miums will  probably  cost  about  three  dollars,  which  with 
other  minor  quarterly  gifts,  consisting  of  one  or  two 
yards  of  ribbon,  penknife,  &c.,  can,  by  a  little  manage- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  make  Santa  Clans  foot 
the  bill  without  impairing  or  causing  any  diminution  in 
the  minds  of  the  scholars  as  to  iheir  teacher's  generosity 
and  love. 

The  president  of  the  board  of  trustees  is  also  to  be 
honored  with  the  presentation  of  the  prizes  to  their 
respective  owners  in  the  name  and  behalf  oi  the  teacher, 
and  after  the  jji-dal  is  placed  around  the  neck  of  the  truly 
honored  scholar,  with  the  request  to  have  it  so  worn  suc- 
cessively  for  three  Sabbaths,  attending,  if  possible,   to 


86  PARENTS    AND  CIIlLDllEK. 

divine  worship  in  the  morning  at  the  Episcopal,  or 
Church  of  England,  afternoon  the  Presbyterian  or  Baptist 
order,  and  Methodist  in  the  evening,  and  in  after  life  ever 
to  esteem  it  with  pride  an,d  admiration,  not  surpassed  by 
General  Z.  Taylor  after  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista ;  if 
possible,  let  all  the  parents  of  the  scholars  in  the  district 
be  present  in  witnessing  not  only  the  presentation  of 
the  prices,  but  also  a  general  examination  of  the  w'hole. 
school,  embracing  vocal  music,  public  speaking,  &c., 
which  tv.'o  latter  branches  should  be  taught  and  practiced 
during  the  aflernoon  of  every  after  Saturday ;  and  if  the 
teacher  has  a  happy  talent  for  singing,  no  objection  to 
grant  him  ten  minutes  every  other  day  during  the  week 
wherein  to  practice  his  school  in  the  beautiful  and  much 
to  be  desired  accomplishment,  and  through  the  course  of 
the  week  the  attendance  of  the  teacher  to  one  class,  will 
enable  many  of  the  arithmeticians  to  form  and  correctly 
work  out  sums  for  themselves,  and  by  a  slight;  assistance, 
soon  acquire  a  tasteful  style  in  placing  the  same  in  a 
blank  book  already  spoken  of  and  provided.  No  arith- 
metician should  be  permitted  to  take  any  sum  from  a 
book  until  reaching  Reduction  as  laid  by  Daboll,  or  even 
Dilvvorth's  system,  notwithstanding  in  the  latter,  many 
typographical  errors  appear,  and  judged  by  a  majority  of 
the  present  generation  as  obsolete  ;  in  this  recommenda- 
tion, however,  I  do  not  discard  all  the  systems  of  the 
present  day  in  mental  exercises  on  arithmetic,  neither 
would  I  wish  so  to  be  understood  as  discountenancing  the 
a^ution  of  any  question  preceeding  Reduction,  as  laid 
down  by  any  author,  but  simply  to  declare  that  a  child 
seeking  improvement  in  arithmetic,  should  not  enter 
Reduction  before  having  thoroughly  beenrfi-ade  acquainted 
Avith  the  five  fundamental  rules,  simple  and  compound, 
Numeration,  or  Addition,  Subtraction,  Multiplication,  and 
Division,  and  by  examples  of  its  own  formation,  show, 
that  knowledge  and  conversancy  without  which  it  would 
be  dangerous  to  advance.  Children  in  pursuit  of  any 
branch  of  knowlege,  should  early  be  taught  the  difference 
between  a  science  and  an  art ;  the  former  is  a  pursuit  of 
the  mind,  hence  astronomy  and  geography  are  sciences 
as  well  as  chemistry,  botany  and  mineralogy,  &c.,  be- 
cause they  directly  emanate  from  the  hand  of  our  Creator 
without  any  human  agency.     And  by  our  arts  we  gener- 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.,  87 

ally  suppose  something  produced  or  brouglit  to  light 
through  the  humble  instrumentality  of  man,  consequently 
English  grammar  is  an  art  whereiH  man  agrees  to  conform 
to  certain  rules  and  regulations  by  which  he  will  not  only 
be  able  to  read  and  write,  but  speak  correctly  and  be  easily 
understood  by  his  fellow  creatures.  The  exactions  of 
written  compositions  as  already  suggested,  will  lead  chil- 
dren to  think  for  themselves,  and  thereby  enable  them  in 
after  life  to  discharge  many  important  duties  growing  out 
of  business  transactions,  one  of  v/hich  is  letter  writing, 
or  in  other  words,  a  correspondence  or  conversation 
between  parties  at  a  distance  from  each  other. 

"  What  shall  I  ivrite  ?  '^  is  a  question  not  unfrequently 
asked  by  a  child  when  commanded  to  open  a  correspon- 
dence Avith  an  intimate  friend,  or  on  business  with  an 
entire  stranger,  which  should  invariably  receive  the  fol- 
lowing answer  :  "  Precisely  what  you  would  wish  to 
communicate  if  enjoying  an  oral  or  personal  conversa- 
tion." Whereas,  many  at  the  present  day,  from  whom 
better  things  should  be  expected,  commence  a  letter  by 
saying,  "  /  now  sit  down  and  take  my  pen  in  hand  to 
inform  you^'^  Sfc,  which,  although  embracing  two  facts  still 
unnecessary  to  mention  and  wholly  immaterial  to  the  party 
addressed,  whether  its  correspondent  sat  or  stood,  and  as 
to  taking  pen  in  hand,  it  would  naturally  be  understood 
as  not  weilded  or  governed  by  the  toes  of  the  foot. 

In  letter  writing,  as  well  as  other  written  instruments, 
correct  spelling  becomes  very  necessary  and  essential 
in  connexion  with  the  proper  marks  governing  punctua- 
tion, else,  that  which  was  intended  for  sense,  becomes 
nonsense,  and  that  which  was  intended  to  convey  truth, 
is  changed  into  falsehood.  And  in  speaking  of  false 
orthography,  I  am  reminded  of  a  young  lady,  who,  hav- 
ing finished  what  she  considered  a  complete  education 
(though  principally  embracing  the  ornamental  branches  of 
embroidery,  painting,  music,  and  dancing),  was  desirous 
to  communicate  the  same  by  letter  to  a  much  esteemed 
aunt,  residing  about  hundred  miles  off,  commencing  the 
inside  address  of  her  letter,  "  Deer  Ant,"  which  two 
words,  standing  directly  connected,  can  JDcar  no  other 
construction  than  to  make  her  beloved  relative  a  "  wild 
jns-raire,  and  for  want  of  proper  marks  in  punctuation, 
the  writer  may  become  as  ridiculous  as  a  young  man, 


88  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

who,  being  requested  on  a  certain  occasion  to  recite  a 
speech  contained  in  the  tragedy  of  Douglass,  commenced, 
"  My  name  is  Norvel  on  the  Grampian  Hills,  vre  Ibught 
and  conquered  ere  a  sword  was  drawn,"  which  conveys 
the  idea  that  he  had  another  name  when  not  on  the 
Grampian  Hills,  and  fighting,  and  conquering  before  a 
sword  was  drawn,  expresses  a  greater  skill  than  usually 
attends  warfare,  or  the  success  of  corabattants. 

The  discipline  and  course  to  be  pursued  by  teachers 
in  governing  a  school, though  extended  here  at  some  length, 
is  still  far  from  embracing  every  particular,  and  while  I 
have  confined  him,  except  practical  illustrations  in  sur- 
veying, within  the  w^alls  of  his  school-house,  do  not  exon- 
erate him  from  a  general  supervision  as  to  deportment 
and  behavior  of  his  scholars  in  all  outer  walks  not  im- 
mediately under  the  eye  of  the  parents  or  guardians. 
And  as  it  will  be  further  seen  I  have  thrown,  or  imposed 
a  heavy  duty  on  the  teacher?,  which,  with  the  most  faith- 
ful industry,  cannot  be  disc^harged  under  eight  and  a  half 
hours  per  day,  and  not  even  within  this  time  without  an 
early  and  punctual  attendance  on  the  part  of  the  scholars, 
which  can  greatly  be  secured  by  the  helping  hand  of 
parents  or  guardians  ;  and  as  teachers  of  common  schools 
are  obliged  to  keep  an  accurate  account  of  the  number  of 
days  attended  by  each  scholar,  I  would  say  in  the  lan- 
guage of  an  old  and  experienced  teacher,  "  Punctual 
attendance  at  school  is  the  great  axletree  upon  which  the 
wheel  of  education  turns." 

As  to  the  emolument,  or  wages  of  a  teacher,  I  have 
already  secured  to  him  a  comfortable  dwelling  and  two 
acres  of  land  for  a  garden,  with  keep  for  a  cow,  to  which 
I  would  add  a  quarterly  payment  in  cash  $100,  which  will 
keep  the  teacher  in  such  a  state  of  good  humor  as  to  pre- 
vent what  mothers  dislike,  the  skinning  of  their  children 
alive,  or  brains  knocked  out,  and  let  them  spare  no  pains 
in  putting  a  stop  to  their  husband's  interrogations  (when 
about  employing  a  teacher),  "  What  is  the  lowest  you'll 
ax?"  but  give  him  and  his  family  what  has  alrearly  been 
named,  instead  of  a  mere  daily  scanty  pittance,  or  a 
dinner  from  otf  something  more  substantial  and  refreshing 
than  a  western  breeze.  When  the  last  census  wastaken 
for  the  State  of  New  York,  (1845),  there  were  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  sixty-nine  select,  or  private  schools, 


PARENTS    AND    CIIILDRFN.  89 

containing  forty  and  four  thousand,  seven  hundred  and 
eighty-three  pupils,  and  embracing  as  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose,  the  rich  and  the  opulent,  thereby  greatly  weak- 
ening the  common  district  school,  which  then  numbered 
ten  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  seven,  with  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty  three  thousand  and  sixty-nine  scholars 
appearing  on  the  teachers'  lists. 

The  wealthy,  in  common  with  all  other  citizens,  have 
a  right  for  honest  purposes  to  expend  their  substance  in 
whatever  manner  or  way  they  may  think  proper,  and,  so 
long  as  the  emolument  does  not  exceed  forty-five,  or 
even  fifty  dollars  per  quarter,  or  the  wages  of  a  grubber, 
we  never  can  expect  our  common  schools  to  occupy  a 
higher  standard  than  they  do  at  present ;  and  it  requires 
but  one  moment's  reflection,  to  prove  that  a  teacher 
worth  one  hundred  dollars  per  quarter,  is  cheaper  than 
one  who  only  receives  and  gives  an  equivalent  at  the 
rate  of  fifty  clollars  per  quarter.  To  better  illustrate,  I 
will  suppose  a  farmer  having  a  son  fourteen  years  old 
attending  school  at  two  dollars  per  quarter,  including  his 
proportion  of  the  public  school  fund,  which  tuition  in  one 
year  amounts  to  eight  dollars;  but  having  unavoidably  to 
retain  for  six  months  the  services  of  this  son  on  his  farm, 
feels  it  a  duty  to  repair  the  loss  which  the  child  has 
sustained  by  absence  from  his  school,  governed  and 
directed  by  the  low  price  teacher,  who,  I  will  further 
charitably  grant  imparted  knowledge  in  the  same  ratio  as 
he  received  his  pay.  To  this  end,  for  the  balance  of  the 
year,  a  teacher  is  secured  at  four  dollars  per  quarter  per 
scholar,  who  gives,  or  imparts  to  the  child  a  double  por- 
tion of  knowledge,  which,  to  the  most  superficial  calcula- 
tor must,  at  least  as  to  the  services  of  the  child,  prove  a 
gain,  without  any  loss  of  money,  or  increase  of  sum  paid 
to  the  low  price  teacher. 

The  policy  of  our  common  school  system  is,  as  it  were, 
purely  agrarian,  and  as  we  have  in  this  country  no  heredi- 
tary lords,  dukes,  or  earls,  it  designs  to  render  the  son  of 
the  peasant  so  informed  in  letters  and  morality  as  to 
capacitate  him  for  the  highest  gifts  of  a  free  and  enlight- 
ened republic ;  and  while  perhaps  I  may  have  alarmed 
the  poor  man  groaning  under  ponderous  chains  of  adver- 
sity, in  recommending  a  larger  salary  for  teachers,  I  trust 
I    shall    not    so   be    understood  as   wishing  to  pay  any 


i 


90  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

teacher  a  sum  beyond  his  actual  worth.  As  it  remains 
for  me,  in  closing  this  little  work,  to  suggest  some  plan 
whereby  all  our  district  schools  can  advantageously  be 
made  free,  I  hope  I  shall  be  so  fortunate  as  to  con- 
vince the  most  sceptical  that  a  poor  man  can  educate  his 
children  without  directly  or  indirectly  paying  one  cent 
or  othervv'ise  contributing,  except  a  few  days'  labor  by  his 
hands  in  erecting  a  dwelling  for  the  teacher.  Except  in 
cases  of  great  exigency  no  government  should  impose  a 
tax  without  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  the  mere 
fact  that  one  man  is  rich  does  not  license  or  privilege  the 
poor  man  to  impose  burdens  upon  him,  literally  covering 
the  crown  of  the  head  down  to  the  soles  of  his  feet,  but 
where,  in  the  providence  of  God,  a  man  possesses  the 
good  things  of  this  world,  and  from  another  they  are  with- 
held, he  that  hath  should  ever  be  willing  to  contribute  a 
portion  of  that  substance  in  advancing  the  general  weal 
or  prosperity  of  his  fellow-man.  And  as  I  have  already 
observed  in  the  commencement  of  this  work,  that  if  there 
is  any  one  thing  more  anxiously  to  be  looked  for  than 
another  by  the  philanthropist,  statesman,  patriot,  or  Chris- 
tian, it  is  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  throughout 
our  land,  and  firmly  believing  that  this  desirable  dis- 
semination can  never  be  effected  until  all  our  common 
schools  shall  become  free,  and  with  a  view  better  to  point 
out  a  plan,  I  present  to  the  reader  the  following  statistics 
from  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  as 
contained  in  part  of  ex-Governor  Wright's  message  to 
both  branches  of  the  New  York  State  Legislature,  Janu- 
ary 6th,  1846. 

"  The  distribution  to  be  made  annually  to  the  common 
schools  from  the  revenues  of  this  fund  is  $275,000,  and 
this  is  upon  the  condition  that  the  counties  raise  by  tax 
a  like  sum  for  the  like  distribution,  so  that  the  sum  of 
$550,000  is  in  fact  distributed  to  the  common  schools 
from  the  operation  of  the  .  aws  regulating  this  fund.  To 
this  amount  the  local  funds  possessed  by  various  towns 
in  the  State,  growing  mostly  out  of  lands  originally 
reserved  for  the  use  of  schools,  have  added  $20,000. 
Certain  town  have,  by  the  vote  of  tlieir  inhabitants,  raised 
by  tax  upon  themselves  $16,000,  and  there  has  been 
raised  in  cities  under  various  special  laws  the  further  sum 
of  $200,000,  so  that  the  whole   expenditure  for  the  year 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN.  9J 

from  these  sources,  upon  the  common  schools  and  the 
district  school  libraries,  has  Leen  $786,000.  Of  this  sum 
the  amount  paid  for  teachers'  wages  has  been  $629,856  94, 
and  the  amount  contributed  on  rate  bills  to  pay  teachers' 
wages  has  been  $458,127  78,  showing  an  aggregate  paid 
in  the  State  to  teachers  of  $1,087,984  72.  The  whole 
number  of  organized  school  districts  in  the  State  is  11,018, 
and  from  10,812  of  these  the  superintendent  of  common 
schools  has  received  reports  in  conformity  to  the  ^w. 
These  reports  give  the  number  of  children  in  the  districts 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  sixteen  years  at  690,914,  and 
the  whole  number  of  children  instructed  in  the  common 
schools  during  the  year  at  736,045.  They  show,  that  of 
this  last  number  4,298  children  have  been  taught  during 
the  wdiole  year ;  48,875  for  ten  months  ;  94,893  for  eight 
months ;  189,885  for  six  months ;  337,000  for  four  months ; 
534,261  for  two  months  and  upwards;  and  201,784  for 
less  than  two  months." 

To  the  foregoing  statement  add  $25,000  from  the  rev- 
enue of  the  United  States  deposit  fund  as  granted  in  the 
adoption  of  the  late  constitution  for  the  use  of  common 
schools,  and  we  have,  with  all  other  resources  named,  a 
common  school  fund  in  round  numbers  of  about  six  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  and  should  our  legislature  through 
respectful  memorials,  become  convinced  that  a  majority 
of  their  constituents  were  in  favor  of  having  all  our  com- 
mon schools  free,  they  would  no  doubt  pass  such  a  law, 
and  the  subject,  constantly  agitated  and  kept  alive  by  the 
people,  wauld  disarm  all  fear. as  to  its  repeal,  though  it 
is  sincerely  to  be  regretted  that  the  late  convention  called 
to  amend  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York,  cast 
a  vote  different  from  what  they  did  on  the  subject  of  free 
schools.  But  as  we  are  bound  to  meet  things  as  they 
exist,  it  remains  for  our  Legislature  to  furnish  an  antidote 
for  the  poison  indicted  by  men  who  would  rather  give 
three  dollars  to- a  rich  man  who  requires  no  assistance  in 
keeping  his  son  at  an  academy  or  seminary  of  higher 
learning,  than  the  poor  man  who  can  scarcely  so  stem 
the  current  of  pecuniary  adversity  as  to  makS  it  difficult 
even  to  maintain  his  family,  to  say  nothing  of  a  support 
to  a  common  country  district  school,  from  which  nursery 
must  first  emanate  or  beam  those  lights  of  learning  which 
illuminate  an^l  direct  not  only  to  the  paths  of  our  holy 


92  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

religion  and  morality,  but  to  the  perpetuity  of  our  liber- 
ties. 

And  if  it  is  urged  that  a  part  of  the  present  policy  of 
our  common  schools  permits  the  trustees  to  direct  the 
teacher  in  making  out  his  rate-bills  to  apply  the  whole  of 
the  public  money  on  poor  children,  it  will  readily  be  seen 
that  this  discrimination  involves  not  only  an  office  of  deli- 
cacy, but  also  one  productive  of  jealousy  ;  besides,  in 
sonil  districts  the  present  sum  of  public  money  is  not  suf- 
ficient to  pay  the  tuition  of  all  the  poor,  but  in  addition 
to  the  present  common  school  fund  there  should  annually 
be  raised  $1,500,000  by  a  fair  and  equal  tax  levied  on  the 
land  and  personal  property  throughout  the  State,  which 
amounts  to  $650,000,000.  The  per  centum  ratio  will 
only  require  two  mills  and  three-tenths,  which  would 
make  all  our  common  schools  free,  and  while  the  poor 
man  with  no  property  has  everything  to  gain,  the  one 
taxed  with  children  would  indirectly  pay  a  mere  nominal 
tuition  to  that  of  his  present  rate,  and  should  those  who 
have  finished  the  education  of  their  children  complain  of 
injustice,  I  would  ask,  has  the  tie  of  consanguinity  been 
severed  and  no  interest  left  for  the  welfare  of  their  grand- 
children, or  does  the  miserly  old  batchelor  writhe  under 
this  petty  tax,  declaring  that  he  has  no  children  ?  I 
would  say  to  him  the  fact  grows  out  of  his  own  foolish 
choice  or  state  of  celibacy,  and  by  a  well  settled  principle 
at  common  law  "  no  man  is  to  be  benefited  by  an  act 
of  his  own  folly,"  and  should  this  argument  be  consid- 
ered too  weak  to  appease -or  reconcile  the  old  Cceleb,  I 
would  say  to  bim,  as  to  the  innocent  unfortunate  (as  to 
matrimony)  rich  maid,  that  the  general  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge, notwithstanding  learned  men  are  frequently  the 
pimps  of  wickedness,  is  one  of  the  best  safeguards  for 
securing  the  rights  of  man,  among  which  are  not  least, 
life,  liberty,  and  J:he  pursuit  of  happiness,  including,  of 
course,  protection  of  property,  which  Intter  is  greatly 
secured  by  the  prevention  of  crime  and  pauperism,  two 
heavy  drains  upon  the  rich  man's  purse,  and  lessens  in 
proportion  as  m.an  become  properly  enlightened. 


PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN,  93 


CHAPTER  X[I, 

The  time  and  money  expended  on  a  child  in  the  fore- 
going chapters  should  only  be  considered  as  so  many 
preliminaries  in  directing  to  an  after  course  of  useful  life, 
and,  in  the  language  of  an  ancient  celebrated  writer, 
"  Rich  or  poor,  strong  or  weak,  every  idle  citizen  is  a 
is  a  knave,  and  of  all  the  occupations  which  serve  sub- 
sistence to  mankind,  those  which  approach  nearest  to  a 
sate  of  nature  are  the  manual  arts;  of  all  conditions  of 
life,  the  most  independent  of  fortune,  or  the  caprices  of 
mankind  is  that  of  the  artisan.  The  artisan  dejiends 
only  on  his  own  labor,  he  is  as  free  as  the  husbandman 
is  a  slaye,  for  the  latter  depends  on  tliQ  produce  of  his 
fields,  which  lies  at  the  discretion  of  others.  The  enemy, 
the  sovereign,  a  powerful  neighbor,  a  law-suit,  may  run 
away  with  the  crop  which  he  has  laboriously  toiled  for, 
he  may  be  distressed  a  thousand  ways  by  means  of  the 
local  stability  of  his  property  ;  whereas,  if  an  artisan  be 
oppressed  in  one  place,  his  baggage  is  easily  packed  up, 
he  folds  his  arms  about  him,  and  disdainfully  marches  otf 
to  another.  Agriculture  is,  nevertheless,  the  principal 
profession  of  mankind,  it  is  the  most  honest,  the  most 
useful,  and,  of  course,  the  most  creditable  in  the  world. 
I  have  no  need  to  urge  my  son  to  apply  himself  to  agri- 
culture, it  is  already  his  study,  every  kind  of  rustic  em- 
ployment is  familiar  to  him  ;  his  first  application  was  to 
the  labors  of  the  husbandman,  and  it  is  in  those  he  regu- 
larly exercises  himself.  I  say  to  him,  therefore,  cultivate 
the  lands  thou  inheriteth  from  thy  fathers.  But,,  it  may 
be  said,  suppose  this  v»^ere  to  be  lost, — or  that  a  child 
had  no  paternal  inheritance,  what  must  he  do  then  ?  learn 
a  trade  1  My  child  learn  a  trade !  make  my  son  a 
mechanic !  consider,  sir,  who  you  advise — I  do,  madame. 
1  consider  this  matter  better  than  you,  who  would  reduce 
your  child  to  the  necessity  of  being  a  lord,  a  marquis,  or 
a  prince,  or  one  day  or  other  less  than  nothing.  I  am 
desirous  of  investing  him  with  a  title  that  cannot  be  taken 
fpom  him,  that  will  in  all  times  and  places  command 
respect,  and  I  can  tell  you,  whatever  you    may  ihink  ol 


94  PARENTS    AND    CHILDREN. 

it,  he  will  have  fewer  equals  in  this  rank  than  in  that  he 
may  derive  from  you. 

"  The  letter  destroys,  and  the  spirit  niaketh  alive.  I 
would  have  him  learn  a  trade,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of 
knowing  how  to  exercise  it,  but  that  he  may  overcome 
the  prejudices  usually  conceived  against  it.  You  will 
never  be  reduced,  you  say,  to  work  for  your  bread  ;  so 
much  the  worse  for  you,  I  say,  so  much  the  worse. 

"  But  no  matter  if  you  labor  "not  for  necessity,  do  it 
for  reputation.  To  make  fortune  subservient  to  your  will 
you  must  begin  by  rendering  yourself  independent ;  to 
triumph  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  you  must  begin  by 
deserving  that  opinion. 

"  Remember,  I  do  not  advise  you  to  acquire  i  talent, 
but  a  mechanical  art,  in  the  exercise  of  which  the  hands 
are  more  employed  than  the  head  ;  an  art  bj  which  you 
will  never  get  a  fortune  but  may  be  enabled  to  live  with- 
out one.  I  have  observed  that  in  families  far  enough 
removed  from  all  appearance  of  waiitlng  bread,  a  provi- 
dent father  is  very  anxious  to  furnish  his  children  with 
various  kinds  of  knowledge,  that,  at  all  events  they 
might  be  capacitated  to  earn  a  s^absistence.  Ih  doing 
this,  also,  such  parents  conceived  they  did  a  great  deal 
in  the  w^ay  of  making  provision  for  their  offspring  in  case 
of.  the  worst  accident. 

"  in  this,  however,  they  did  nothing,  because  the 
resources  with  w^hich  they  thus  provided  for  their  children, 
depended  on  the  fame  and  good  fortune  of  which  they 
wanted  to  render  themselves  independent. 

"  Let  us  suppose  you  may  have  studied  politics,  and 
made  yourself  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  interests  of 
princes,  all  this  is  very  well  ;  but,  what  will  you  do 
with  your  knowledge  if  you  do  not  know  how  to  get 
access  to  ministers  of  State,  have  no  patroness  in  a  woman 
of  quality,  no  interest  with  the  commissioners  of  the 
several  departments  of  the  finances,  if  you  have  not  the 
art  of  making  yourself  agreeable  to  them,  or  the  base- 
ness to  do  all  the  dirty  busines  in  which  they  might  find 
you  employment'? 

"  But,  you  are  an  architect,  or  painter,  we  will  say  ;  it 
is  very  well,  they  are  noble  arts,  but  you  must  first  mjfke 
your  abilities  known  to  the  public.  Do  you  think  to 
carry  your  point  merely  by  exposing  your  designs  at  an 


PARENTS   AND    CHILDREN.  95 

exhibition  ?  No,  no,  this  will  not  do,  you  must  previously 
be  admitted  into  the  academy^  you  must  be  honored  by 
the  protection  of  the  great,  you  must  throw  aside  your 
pencil  and  rule,  take  a  coach,  and  drive  about  from  house 
to  house. 

'*  Are  you  desirous  of  teaching  any  of  the  arts  and 
sciences  you  have  learned,  to  be  a  teacher  of  geography, 
of  the  mathematics,  of  languages,  of  music,  or  design, 
to  do  this  you  must  find  scholars  and,  of  course,  advocates 
and  puffers.  I  am,  therefore,  determined  my  son  shall 
learn  a  trade,  a  creditable  one  to  be  sure,  you  will  say  ; 
is  not  every  employment  creditable  that  is  useful  1  I 
would  not  have  him  leain  to  be  an  embroiderer,  a  gilder, 
or  a  varnisher,  like  the  fine  gentlemen  of  Mr.  Locke,  I 
would  have  him  neither  a  fidler,  a  player,  or  a  pam- 
phleteer, I  would  confine  him  to  nothing,  I  should  much 
rather  he  would  be  a  cobbler  than  a  poet,  that  he  should 
learn  to  pave  the  highway  than  enamel  or  paint  flowers 
on  china  ;  you  will  say,  spies,  bailiffs'  followers,  and 
even  hangmen,  are  useful  people  in  their  way  ;  that  they 
are  so  is  the  fault  of  the  government,  which  might  render 
them  useless;  but,  to  give  up  this  point,  I  was  indeed 
mistaken,  it  is  not  enough  to  fix  on  a  trade  useful  to 
society,  it  should  be  such  a  one  as  not  to  require  those 
who  exercise  it  to  be  possessed  of  those  detestable  quali- 
ites  of  mind  which  are  incompatible  v,'ith  humanity." 


DECLARATION  OF   INDEPENDENCE. 


THE    UNANIMOUS    DECLARATION    OF   THE    THIRTEEN  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMERICA,  IN   CONGRESS    ASSEMBLED. 

When,  iu  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary 
for  one  people  to  dissofve  the  political  bands  which  have  con- 
nected them  with  another,  and  to  assume^  among  the  powers  of 
the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  of  the 
opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the 
causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  creat- 
ed equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certahi 
imalienable  rights ;  that  among  these,  are  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness.  That,  to  secure  these  rights,  governments 
are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the 
consent  of  the  governed  ;  and  that,  whenever  any  form  of  gov- 
ernment becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the 
people  to  alter  or  to  aboli-sh  it,  and  to  institute  nev/  government, 
laying  its  foundations  on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  pow- 
ers in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their 
safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,  will  dictate  that  go- 
vernments long  established,  should  not  be  changed  for  light  and 
transient  causes  ;  and,  accordingly,  all  experience  has  shewn  that 
mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are  sufferable, 
than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they 
are  accustomed.  But,  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpa- 
tions, pursuing  invariably  the  same  object,  evhices  a  design  to  re- 
duce them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their 
duty,  to  throw  off  such  government,  and  to  provide  new  guards 
for  their  future  security.  Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance 
of  the  colonies,  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains 
them  to  alter  their  former  systems  of  government.  The  history 
of  the  present  king  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  in- 
juries and  usurpation,  all  having  in  direct  object  the  establisli- 
ment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  states.  To  prove  this, 
let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  cantiid  world  : 

He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  wholesome  and 
necessary  for  the  public  good. 
6 


98  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPKNDExNCK, 

He  has  forbidden  his  goveniois  to  pass  laws  of  immediate  and 
pressing  importance,  utdess  suspended  in  their  operations  till 
his  assent  should  be  obtained  ;  and,  when  so  suspended,  he  has 
utterly  neglected  to  attend  to  them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accommodation  of 
large  districts  of  people,  unless  those  people  would  rehnquish 
the  right  of  representation  in  the  legislature  ;  a  right  inestima- 
ble to  them,  and  formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places  unusual,  un- 
comfortable, and  distadt  from  the  lepository  of  their  public  re- 
cords, for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into  compliance 
with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly,  for  oppos- 
ing, with  manly  firmness,  his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the 
people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such  dissolutions,  to  cause 
others  to  be  elected  ;  whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable 
of  annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at  large  for  their  ex- 
ercise ;  the  state  remaining,  in  the  mean  time,  exposed  to  all  the 
dangers  of  invasion  from  without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  population  of  these  states  ; 
for  that  purpose,  obstructing  the  laws  of  naturalization  of  for- 
eigners, refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage  their  migration 
thither,  and  raising  the  conditions  of  new  apjjropriations  of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice,  by  refusing 
his  assent  to  laws  for  establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone,  for  the 
tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and  payment  of  their 
salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and  sent  hither 
svvarms  of  officers  to  harass  our  people,  and  eat  out  their  sub- 
stance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  time  of  peace,  standing  armies, 
without  the  consent  of  our  legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  independent  of,  and  su- 
perior to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject  us  to  a  jurisdiction 
foreign  to  our  constitution,  and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ; 
giving  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  legislation. 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops  among  us  : 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  punishment,  for  any 
murders  which  they  should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these 
states : 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the  world : 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent : 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefit  of  trial  by  jury  : 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be  tried  for  pretended  of- 
fences : 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in  a  neighbor- 
ing province,  establishing  there  an  arbitrary  government,  and 
enlarging  its  boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example 


DECLAKAHON  OF  liiDEl'ElSDKMUE.  99 

and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same  absolnie  rule  into 
these  colonies : 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our  most  valuable 
laws,  and  altering,  fundamentally,  the  forms  of  our  governments  : 

For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  declaring  themselves 
invested  with  power  to  legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  Avhatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring  us  out  of  his 
protection,  and  waging  war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt  our 
towns,  and  destroyed  the,  lives  of  our  people. 

He  is  at  this  time,  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  merce- 
naries to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny, 
already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy 
scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  un- 
worthy the  head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow  citizens,  taken  captive  on  the 
high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the  ex- 
ecutioners of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by 
their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst  us,  and  has 
endeavored  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants  of  our  frontier,  the  mer- 
ciless Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  un- 
distinguished destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  have  petitioned  for 
redress,  in  the  most  humble  terms.  Our  repeated  petitions  have 
been  answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince,  Avhose  cha- 
racter is  thus  marked  by  every  act  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is 
unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our  British  breth- 
ren. We  have  warned  them,  frSm  time  to  time,  of  the  attempts, 
by  their  legislature,  to  extend  an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over 
us.  We  have  reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of  oui  emi- 
gration and  settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their  native 
justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have  conjured  them,  by  the 
ties  of  our  common  kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpations, 
which  would  inevitably  interrupt  our  connections  and  corre- 
spondence. They,  too.  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and 
of  consanguinity.  We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  neces- 
sity, which  d'enounces  our  separation,  and  hold  them,  as  we 
hold  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in  peace  friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  in  General  Congress  assembled,  appealing  to  the  Su- 
preme Judge  of  the  World  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions, 
do,  in  the  name,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  good  people  of  these 
colonies,  solemnly  publish  and  declare,  that  these  United  Colonies 
are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States  ;  that 
they  are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  tlie  British  crown,  and 
that  all  political  connexion  between  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain,  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved  ;  and  that,  as  free 
and  independent  States,  they  have  full  power  to  levy  war,  con- 
clude peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and  to  do 
all  other  acts  and  things  which  Independent  State.-  may  of  right 


iOO 


DECLARATION  Of    INDErEWDENCE. 


do.  And,  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  a  firm  re h- 
auce  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually  pledge 
to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 

The  forgoing  declaration  was,  by  order  of  Congress.'engrossed 
and  signed  by  the  followiug  member.^ : 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 


New-Hampshire. 

Joseph  Bartlett, 
William  Whipple, 
Mathew  Thornton. 

?   Massachusetts  Bay. 

Samuel  Adam?, 
John  Adams, 
Robert  Treat  Paine, 
Elbridge  Gerry. 

Rhode   Island. 

Stephen  Hopkins, 
William  Ellery. 

Connecticut . 

Roger  Sherman, 
Samuel  Huntington, 
William  Williams, 
Oliver  Wolcott. 

Neu'-  York. 

William  Floyd, 
Phillip  Livingston, 
Francis  Lewis, 
Lewis  JMorris, 


New-Jersey. 

Richard  Stockton, 
John  Witherspoon, 
Francis  Hopkiuson, 
John  Hart, 
Abraham  Clark. 

Pennsylvania. 

Robert  Morris, 
Benjamin  Rush, 
Benjamin  franklin, 
Johu  Morton, 
George  Clymer, 
James  Smith, 
George  Tayldt, 
James  Wilson, 
George  Ross. 

Delaware. 

Ccesar  Rodney, 
George  Reed, 
Thomas  M'Kean. 

31aryland. 

Samuel  Chase, 
William  Paca, 
Thomas  Stone. 


Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrolton. 

Virginia. 

George  Wythe, 
Richard  Henry  Lee, 
Thomas  Jefferson, 
Benjamin  Harrison, 
Thomas  Nelson,  Jr. 
Francis  Lightfoot  Lee, 
Carter  Braxton. 

North  Carolina. 

William  Hooper, 
Joseph  Hewes, 
John  Peun. 

South  Carolina. 

Edward  Rutledge, 
Thomas  Hey  ward,  .U 
Thomas  Lynch,  Jr. 
Arthur  Middleton. 

Georgia. 

Button  Guinett, 
Lyman  Hall, 
George  Waltou 


CONSTITUTfON  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union,  estabhsh  justice,  ensure  domestic  tranquilhty, 
provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity, do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United 
States  of  America. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Sec.  1. — All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Se- 
nate and  House  of  Representatives. 

Sec.  I[. — 1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed 
of  members  chosen  every  second  year,  by  the  people  of  the 
several  states ;  and  the  electors  in  each  state  shall  have  the 
qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch 
of  the  state  legislature. 

2.  No  person  shall  be  a  representative  who  shall  not  have  at- 
tained the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  Avhen  elected, 
be  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

3.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  states  which  may  be  included  within  this 
union,  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  de- 
termined by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  includ- 
ing those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding 
Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  persons.  The  actual 
enumeration  shall  be  made  within  three  years  after  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every 
subsequent  term  of  ten  j'^ears,  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  by 
law  direct.  The  number  of  representatives  shall  not  exceed 
one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  state  shall  have  at  least 
one  representative :  and  until  such  enumeration  shall  be  made, 
the  state  of  Nexo  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose  three  ; 
Massachusetts  eight ;  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations  one  ; 
Connecticut  five  ;  New-York  six;  Neiv  Jersey  ioiu  ]  Pennsylvania 
eight ;  Delaware  one ;  Maryland  six  ;  Virginia  ten  ;  North  Carolina 
five  ;  South  Carolina  five  ;  Georgia  three. 

4.  When  vacancies  shall  happen  in  the  representation  from 


102  CONSTITUTION    OF 

any  state,  the  executive  authority  thereof  shall  i=sue  writf5  of 
election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

5.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  speaker 
and  other  officers,  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeach- 
ment. 

Sec  III.— 1.  The  Senate  of  the  Ifnited  States  shall  be  com- 
posed of  two  senators  from  each  state,  chosen  by  the  legislature 
thereof,  for  si.x:  years  ;  and  each  senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

2.  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence 
of  the  first  election,  they  shall  be  divided,  as  equally  as  may  be, 
into  three  classes.  The  seats  of  the  senators  of  the  first  class 
shall  be  vacated  at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the  se- 
cond class  at  the  expiration  of  the  fourth  year,  and  the  third 
class,  at  the  expiration  of  the  sixth  year,  so  that  one-third  may 
be  chosen  every  second  year ;  and  if  vacancies  happen  by  re- 
signation or  otherwise,  during  the  recess  of  the"  legislature  of 
any  state,  the  executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  appoint- 
ments until  the  next  meeting  of  the  legislature,  which  shall  then 
fill  such  vacancies. 

3.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who  shall  not  have  attained 
the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of 
that  state  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

4.  The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President 
of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  imless  they  be  equally  di- 
vided. 

5.  The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers  and  also  a  Presi- 
dent pro-tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when 
he  shall  exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

6.  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeach- 
ments. When  sitting  for  that  purpose  they  shall  be  on  oath  or 
affirmation.  When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried, 
the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside ;  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted 
without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

7.  Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  not  extend  far- 
ther than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and 
enjoy  any  oflice  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit,  under  the  United 
States  ;  but  the  party  convicted  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  and 
subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment  according 
to  law. 

Sec.  IV. — 1.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elec- 
tions for  senators  and  representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in 
each  state,  by  the  legislature  thereof:  but  the  Congress  may,  at 
any  time,  by  law,  make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to 
the  places  of  choosing  senators. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year; 
and  such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  un- 
less they  shall  by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

Sec.  V. — 1.  Each  house  shall  be  judge  of  the  elections,  re- 
turns, and  qualifications  of  its  own  members ;  and  a  majority  of 
each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business ;  but  a  smaller 


THK    UNITED    STATES.  103 

number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members,  in  such  manner,  and 
under  such  penalties,  as  each  house  may  provide. 

2.  Each  house  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings, 
punish  its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the  con- 
currence of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 

3.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and 
from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  exceptiiiir  such  parts  as 
may,  in  their  judgment,  require  secrecy ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays 
of  the  members  of  either  house  on  any  question,  shall,  at  the 
desire  of  one-fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

4.  Neither  house,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days, 
nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall 
be  sitting. 

Sec.  VI. — 1.  The  senators  and  representatives  shall  receive  a 
compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and 
paid  out  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall,  in  all 
cases,  except  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privi- 
leged from  arrest,  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their 
respective  houses,  and  in  going  to  or  returning  from  the  same  ; 
and  for  any  speech  in  debate  in  either  house,  they  shall  not  be 
questioned  in  any  other  place. 

2.  No  senator  or  representative  shall,  during  the  time  for 
which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  ofRce  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created, 
or  the  emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased,  during 
such  time  ;  and  no  person  holding  any  office  under  the  United 
States,  shall  be  a  member  of  either  house,  during  his  continuance 
in  office. 

Sec.  VII. — 1.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the 
House  of  Representatives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  con- 
cur with  amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

2.  Every  bill,  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  pre- 
sented to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  if  he  approve,  he 
shall  sign  it ;  but  if  not,  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to 
that  house  in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the 
objections  at  large  on  their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it. 
If,  after  such  reconsideration,  two-thirds  of  that  house  shall 
agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objec- 
tions, to  the  other  house,  and  if  approved  by  two-lhirds  of  that 
house,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases,  the  votes 
of  both  houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays ;  and  the 
names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill,  shall  be 
entered  on  the  journals  of  each  house  respectively.  If  any  bill 
shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President,  within  fen  days  (Sundays 
excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same 
shall  be  a  iTivv,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless 
Congress,  by  their  adjournment,  prevent  its  return;  in  which 
case  it  shall  nor  be  a  law. 


104  CONSTITUTION    OF 

3.  Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to  which  the  concurrence 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary 
(except  on  a  question  of  adjournment),  shall  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States :  and  before  the  same  shall  take 
effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him, 
shall  be  re-passed  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Re- 
presentatives, according  to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed 
in  the  case  of  a  bill. 

Sec.  Vni. — The  Congress  shall  have  power — 

1.  To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises;  to 
pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general 
welfare  of  the  United  States  ;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises 
shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States: 

2.  To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States  :• 

3.  To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the 
several  states,  and  -with  the  Indian  tribes  : 

4.  To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform 
laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies,  'throughout  the  United 
States  : 

5.  To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
coin,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures  : 

6.  To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securi- 
ties and  current  coin  of  the  United  States  : 

7.  To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  : 

8.  To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  se- 
curing, for  limited  times,  to  authors  and  inventors,  the  exclusive 
right  to  their  respective  writings  and  discoveries  : 

9.  To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  supreme  court : 

10.  To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on 
the  high  seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  nations: 

11.  To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and 
make  rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water: 

12.  To  raise  and  support  armies;  but  no  appropriation  of 
money  to  that  use,  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years  : 

13.  To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy  : 

14.  To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the 
land  and  naval  forces : 

15.  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws 
of  the  union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions: 

16.  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the 
militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  m.ay  be  employed 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  states  respec- 
tively, the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of 
training  the  militia,  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by 
Congress. 

17.  To  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatsover, 
over  such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by 
cession  of  particular  states,  and  tlie  acceptance  of  Congress,  be- 
come the  seat  of  government  of  the  United  States,  afid  to  exercise 
like  authority  over  all  places  pvirchased  by  the  consent  of  the 
legislature  of  the  state  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erec« 


THE    UNITED    STATES.  10i>* 

tlon  of  forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  and  other  needful 
buildings:     And 

18.  To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper, 
for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other 
powers  vested  by  this  constitution  in  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  department  or  ofRce  thereof. 

Sec.  IX. — 1.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as 
any  of  the  states,  now  existing,  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress,  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eight :  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on 
such  importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

2.  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  sus- 
pended, unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  public 
safety  may  require  it. 

3.  No  bill  of  attainder,  or  ex-post-facto  law,  shall  be  passed. 

4.  No  capitation,  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in 
proportion  to  the  census  or  enumeration  herein  before  directed 
to  be  taken. 

5.  No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any 
state.  No  preference  shall  be  given,  by  any  regulation  of  com- 
merce or  revenue,  to  the  ports  of  one  state  over  those  of  another  ; 
nor  shall  vessels  bound  to  or  from  one  state,  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another. 

6.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  but  in  conse- 
quence of  appropriations  made  by  law ;  and  a  regular  statement 
and  account  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money 
shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

7.  No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States ; 
and  no  person  hohling  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  luider  them, 
shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present, 
emolument,  office  or  title  of  any  kind  Avhatever,*from  any  king, 
prince,  or  foreign  state. 

Sec.  X. — 1.  No  state  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or 
confederation ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ;  coin  money  ; 
emit  bills  of  credit ;  make  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a 
tender  in  payment  of  debts  ;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex-post- 
facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts  ;  or  grant 
any  title  of  nobility. 

2.  No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any 
imposts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  ab- 
solutely necessaiy  for  executing  its  inspection  laws;  and  the 
nett  produce  of  all  duties  and  imposts  laid  by  any  state  on  im- 
ports or  exports,  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United 
States ;  and  all  such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and 
control  of  the  Congress.  No  state  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  lay  any  duty  of  tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war,  in 
time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact  with  another 
state,  or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually 
invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 


*106  CONSTITUTION    OF 

ARTICLE  II. 

Sic.  I. — 1.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President 
of  the  United  States  of  America.  He  shall  hold  his  office  during 
the  term  of  four  years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice-President, 
chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected  as  follows  : 

2.  Each  state  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal  to  the  whole 
number  of  senators  and  representatives  to  which  the  state  may 
be  entitled  in  the  Congress ;  but  no  senator  or  representative,  or 
person  holding  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  appointed  an  elector. 

3.  [Annulled.     See  Amendments,  art.  12.] 

4.  The  Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  elec 
tors,  and  the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes ;  which 
day  shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

5.  No  person  except  a  natural  born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  per- 
son be  eligible  to  that  office,  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age 
of  thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the 
United  States. 

6.  In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties 
of  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice-President ;  and 
the  Congress  may  by  law  provide  for  the  case  of  removal,  death, 
resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice-President, 
declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such  officer 
shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disability  be  removed,  or  a  President 
shall  be  elected. 

7.  The  Presiflent  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services 
a  conipensation  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished 
during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected  ;  and  he 
shall  not  receive,  within  that  period,  any  other  emolument  from 
the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

8.  Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take 
the  following  oath  or  affirmation  : — 

"  1  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute 
the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  and  Vv'ill,  to  the  best 
of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States." 

Sec.  II. — 1.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the 
several  states,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United 
States :  he  may  require  the  opinion  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departm.ents,  upon  any  subject 
relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices  ;  and  he  shall  have 
power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

2.  He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  senators 


THE   UNITED    STATES.  107 

present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  ad- 
vice and  consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other 
public  ministers,  and  consuls,  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and 
all  other  officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are 
not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established 
by  law.  But  the  Congress  may,  bylaw,  vest  the  appointment  of 
such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President  alone, 
in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

3.  The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that 
may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  com- 
missions which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

Sec.  hi. — 1.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the  Congress 
information  of  the  state  of  the  union,  and  recommend  to  their 
consideration  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  ex- 
pedient; he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  both 
houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between 
them,  with  respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn 
them  to  such  time  as  he  shall  think  proper;  he  .shall  receive 
ambassadors,  and  other  public  ministers;  he  shall  take  care 
that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed  ;  and  shall  commission  all 
the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  IV. — 1.  The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  offi- 
cers of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  im- 
peachment for,  and  conviction  of,  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors. 


ARTICLE  III. 

Sec.I.— i.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
vested  in  one  supreme  court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the 
Congress  may,  from  time  to  time,  ordain  and  establish.  The 
judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their 
offices  during  good  behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive 
for  their  services  a  compensation  which  shall  not  be  diminished 
during  their  continuance  in  office. 

Sec.  TL— 1.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases  in 
law  and  equity,  arising  under  this  constitution,  the  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under 
their  authority;  to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public 
ministers  and  consuls ;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime 
jurisdiction;  to  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall 
be  a  party  ;  to  controversies  between  two  or  more  states  ;  be- 
tween a  state  and  citizens  of  another  state  ;  between  citizens  of 
different  states;  between  citizens  of  the  same  state  claiming 
lands  under  grants  of  dilferent  states,  and  between  a  state,  or  the 
citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  states,  citizens,  or  subjects. 

2.  In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers 
and  consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  state  shall  be  a  party,  the  su- 
preme court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  other  cases 
before  mentioned,  the  supreme  court  shall  have  appellate  juris- 


108 


CONSTITUTION    OF 


diction,  both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions,  and  un- 
der such  regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

3.  The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment, 
shall  be  by  jury;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  state  where 
the  said  crimes  shall  have  been  committed ;  but  when  not  com- 
mitted within  any  state,  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places 
as  the  Congress  may  by  law  have  directed. 

Sec.  III. — 1.  Treason  against  the  United  States,  shall  consist 
only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies, 
giving  them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of 
treason,  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same 
overt  act,  or  confessions  in  open  court. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  pimishment 
of  treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason,  shall  work  corruption  of 
blood,  or  forfeiture,  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Sec.  I. — 1.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  state,  to 
the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  eveiy  other 
state.  And  the  Congress  may,  by  general  laws,  prescribe  the 
manner  in  which  such  acts,  records,  and  proceedings,  shall  be 
proved,  and  the  effect  thereof. 

Sec  II. — 1.  The  citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  states. 

2.  A  person  charged  in  any  state  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another  state, 
shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  state  from 
which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up  to  be  removed  to  the  state  hav- 
ing jurisdiction  of  the  crime. 

3.  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  state,  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of 
any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service 
or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

Sec.  III. — 1.  New  states  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into 
this  union;  but  no  new  state  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  state  ;  nor  any  state  be  formed 
by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  states,  or  parts  of  states,  without 
the  consent  of  the  legislature  of  the  states  concerned,  as  well  as 
of  the  Congress. 

2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations,  respecting  the  territory  or  other 
property  belonging  to  the  United  States;  and  nothing  in  this 
constitution  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of 
the  United  States  or  of  any  particular  state. 

Sec.  IV.  — 1.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  state 
in  this  union,  a  republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  pro- 
tect each  of  them  against  invasion,  and,  on  application  of  the 
legislature,  or  of  the  executive  (when  the  leiiislature  camiot  be 
convened),  against  domestic  violence. 


THE    UNITED    STATKS.  109 


ARTICLE  V. 


1.  The  Coijgress,  \\'heilever  two- thirds  of  both  Houses  shall 
deem  it  necessary,  shaU  propose  amendments  to  this  constitu- 
tion, or  on  the  appUcation  of  the  legislatures  of  two-thirds  of 
the  several  states,  shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amend- 
ments, which,  in  either  case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  as  part  of  this  constilution,  when  ratified  by  the  legis- 
latures of  three-fourths  of  the  several  states,  or  by  conventions 
in  three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one,  or  the  other  mode  of  ratifi- 
cation may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress;  provided,  that  no 
amendment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eight,  shall  in  any  manner  affect  the  first  and 
fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article  ;  and  that  no 
state,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  suffrage 
in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

1.  All  debts  contracted,  and  engagements  entered  into,  before 
the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the 
United  States  imder  this  constitution,  asunder  the  confederation. 

2.  This  constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  Avhich 
shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof;  and  all  treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  :  and  the  judges  in  every 
state  shall  be  bound  thereby  ;  any  thing  in  the  constitution  or 
laws  of  any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

3.  The  senators  and  representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
members  of  the  several  state  legislatures,  and  all  executive  and 
judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  ihe  several 
states,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation,  to  support  this 
constitution,  but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a 
qualification  to  any  office  or  pubhc  trust  under  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  VII, 

1.  The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  stales,  .shall  be 
sufficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  constilution  between  the 
states  so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  ill  convention,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  states 
present,  the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  the  twelfth. 
In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

Fres'den'  and  deputy fromVirgihi i . 


110 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


New-Hampshire. 

John  Langdon, 
Nicholas  Gilman. 

Massachusetts. 
Nathaniel  Gihnan, 
Rufus  King. 

Connecticut. 

Wm.  Sam'l  Johnson 
Roger  Sherman. 

New-  York. 
Alexander  Hamilton. 

New-Jersey. 
William  Livingston, 
David  Brearley, 
William  Patterson, 
Jonathan  Dayton. 


John  Blair, 
James  Madison,  Jr. 


Pennsylvania.  Virginia. 

Benjamin  Franklin, 
Thomas  Mifflin, 
Robert  Morris, 

George  Clymer,  North  Carolina. 

Thomas  Fitzsimons,  William  Blount, 
Jared  Ingersoll,  Rich'd.DobbsSpaight, 

James  VVilson,  jjugh  Williamson. 

Governeur  Morris. 


'  Delaxvare. 

George  Reed, 
Gunning  Bedford, 
John  Dickerson, 
Richard  Bassett. 
Jacob  Broom, 

Maryland. 
James  M'Heni-y, 
Daniel  of  St.Tho. 
Daniel  Carrol. 


South  Carolina. 

John  Rutledge, 
Charles  C.  Pinckney, 
Charles  Pinckney, 
Pierce  Butler. 

Georgia. 

William  Few, 
Abraham  Baldwin, 
Jenifer, 


Attest, 


WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 


AME]\DMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 


Art.  I.  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establish' 
ment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof ;  or 
abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press  ;  or  the  right  of 
the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government 
for  a  redress  of  grievances. 

Art.  II. — A  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  se- 
curity of  a  free  state,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear 
arms  shah  not  be  infringed. 

Art.  III. — -No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in 
any  house  without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war, 
but  in  a  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Art.  IV. — The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  per- 
sons, houses,  papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches 
and  seizures,  shall  not  be  violated  ;  and  no  warrants  shall  issue, 
but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and 
particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons 
or  things  to  be  seized. 

Art.  V. — No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or 
otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indict- 
ment of  a  grand  jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  na- 
val forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual  service,  in  time  of 
war  or  public  danger;  nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the 
same  offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb ;  nor 
shaU  be  compelled,  in  any  criminal  case,  to  be  witness  against 
himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due 
process  of  law  ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public  use 
without  just  compensation. 

Art.  VI. — In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy 
the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the 
state  and  district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed, 
which  district  shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and 
to  be  informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  ;  to  be 
confronted  with  the  witnesses  against  him  ;  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor ;  and  to  have  the  as- 
sistance of  counsel  for  his  defence. 

Art.  VII. — In  suits  of  common  law,  where  the  value  in  con- 
troversy shall  exceed  twenty  dollai-s,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury 
shall  be  preserved;  and  no  fact,  tried  by  a  jury,  shall  be  other- 
wise re-examined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States,  than  accord- 
ing to  the  rules  of  the  common  laAv. 

Art.  Vlll. — Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive 
fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

Art.  IX. — The  enumeration  in  the  constitution,  of  certain 
rights,  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  re- 
.tained  by  the  people. 

Art.  X. — The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  State:-  by  the 


113  AiVlENDMENTS    TO    THE    CONSTITUTIO-\. 

coustitulion,  nor  prohibited  to  it  by  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the 
states  respectively,  or  to  the  people.  ^ 

Art.  Xf. — The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be 
construed  to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or 
prosecuted  against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of 
another  state,  or  by  citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  state. 

Art.  XII. — 1.  The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  states, 
and  vote  by  ballot,  for  President  and  Vice  President,  one  of 
whom,  at  least,  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  state  with 
themselves  ;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for 
as  President,  and  in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice 
•President ;  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted 
for  as  President,  and  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice  President, 
and  of  the  nnmber  of  votes  for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign 
and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  seat  of  government  of  the 
United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate;  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House 
of  iiepresentatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall 
then  be  counted ;  the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes 
for  President,  shall  be  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ;  and  if  no  person  have 
such  majority,  then  from  the  persons  having  the  highest  number, 
not  exceeding  three,  on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President, 
the  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  inuuediately,  by  bal- 
lot, the  President. — But  in  choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall 
be  taken  by  states,  the  representation  from  each  state  having 
one  vote ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member 
or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  states,  and  a  majoiity  of  all 
the  states  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the  House  of 
Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President  whenever  the  right 
of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of. 
March  next  following,  then  the  Vice  President  shall  act  as  Presi- 
dent, as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability 
of  the  President. 

2.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  Vice- 
President,  shall  be  the  Vice  President,  if  such  number  be  a  ma- 
jority of  the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ;  and  if  no  per- 
son have  a  majority,  then  frqm  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the 
list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice  President ;  a  quorum  for  the 
purpose  shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  luimber  of  Se- 
nators, and  a  majority  of  the  whole  nmnber  shall  be  necessary  to 
a  choice. 

3.  But  no  person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of 
President  shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States. 

Art.  Xni.  —If  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  shall  accept, 
claim,  receive,  or  retain  any  title  of  nobility  or  honor,  or  shall, 
without  the  consent  of  Congress,  accept  or  retain  any  present, 
pension,  office,  or  emolument,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any 
emperor,  king,  prince,  or  foreign  power,  such  person  shall  cease 
to  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  be  incapable  of 
holding  any  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  them,  or  either  of  tliern. 


h 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK, 

ADOPTEn    NOVEMBER    3,    1846. 


We  the  People  of  the  State  of  New-York,  grateful  to  Almightj' 
God  for  our  Freedom,  in.  order  to  secure  his  blessings,  do 
ESTABi-TsH  this  Coustitution. 

ARTICLE  I. 

Section  1.  No  member  of  the  State  shall  be  disfranchised, 
or  deprived  of  any  of  the  rights  or  privileges,  secured  to  any 
citizen  thereof,  unless  by  the  law  of  the  land,  or  the  judgment 
of  his  peers. 

Section  2.  The  trial  by  jury,  in  all  cases  in  which  it  has 
been  heretofore  used,  shall  remain  inviolate  forever.  But  a 
jury  trial  may  be  waived  by  the  parties  in  all  civil  cases,  in  the 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Section  3.  The  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  religions 
profession  and  worship,  without  discrimination  or  preference, 
shall  forever  be  allowed  in  this  State  to  all  mankind  ;  and  no 
person  shall  be  rendered  incompetent  to  be  a  witness  on  ac- 
count of  his  opinions  on  matters  of  religious  belief;  but  the 
liberty  of  conscience  hereby  secured  shall  not  be  so  construed 
as  to  excuse  acts  of  licentiousness,  or  justify  practices  incon- 
sistent with  the  peace  or  safety  of  this  State. 

Section  4  The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  inva- 
sion, the  public  safety  may  require  its  suspension. 

Section  5.  Excessive  bail  sliall  not  be  required,  nor  ex- 
cessive fines  imposed,  nor  shall  cruel  and  unusual  pnnishments 
be  inflicted,  nor  shall  witnesses  be  unreasonably  detained. 

Section-G.  No  person  shall  be  lield  to  answer  for  a  capital  or 
otherwise  infamous  crime  (except  in  cases  of  impeachment, 
and  in  cases  of  militia  when  in  actual  service  ;  and  the  land 
and  naval  forces  in  time  of  war,  or  which  this  State  may  keep 
with  the  consent  of  Congress  in  time  of  peace ;  and  in  cases 
of  petit  larceny,  under  tlie  regulation  of  the  Legislature), 
unless  on  presentment  or  indictment  of  the  grand  jury  ;  and  in 
any  trial,  in  any  court  whatever,  the  pany  accused  shall  be 
allovv-ed  to  appear  and  defend  in  person  and  with  counsel,  as 
in  civil  actions.  No  person  shall  be  subject  to  be  twice  put  in 
jeopardy  for  the  same  offence;  nor  shall  he  be  compelled  in 
any  criminal  case,  to  be  a  witness  against  himself;  nor  he  de- 
prived of  life,  liberty,  or  property  Avithout  due  process  of  law  ; 
6 


114  CONSTITUTION    OF 

nor  shall  private  property  be   taken  for  public   use  without 
just  compensation. 

Section  7.  When  private  property  shall  be  taken  for  public 
use,  the  compensation  to  be  made  therefor,  when  such  com- 
pensation is  not  made  by  the  State,  shall  be  ascertained  by  a 
jury,  or  by  not  less  than  tiiree  commissioners  appointed  by  a 
court  of  record,  as  shgll  be  prescribed  by  la\v.  Private  roads 
may  be  opened  in  the  manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law  ;  but  in 
every  case  the  necessity  of  the  road,  and  the  amount  of  all 
damage  to  be  sustained  by  the  opening  thereof,  shall  be  first 
determined  by  a  jury  of  freeholders,  and  such  amount,  together 
with  the  expenses  of  the  proceeding,  shall  be  paid  by  the  person 
to  be  benefited. 

Section  8.  f^very  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write  and  publish 
his  sentiments  on  all  subjects,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse 
of  that  right;  and  no  law  shall  be  passed  to  restrain  or  abridge 
the  liberty  of  speech  or  of  the  press.  In  all  criminal  prosecu- 
tions or  indictments  for  libels,  the  truth  may  be  given  in  evi- 
dence to  the  jury;  and  if  it  shall  appear  to  the  jury  that  the 
matter  charged  as  hbellous  is  true,  and  was  published  witb  good 
motives  and  for  justifiable  ends,  the  party  shall  be  acquitted  ; 
and  the  jury  shall  have  the  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the 
fact. 

Section  9.  The  assent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected 
to  each  branch  of  the  Legislature,  shall  be  requisite  to  every 
bill  appropriating  the  public  moneys  or  property  for  local  or 
private  purposes. 

Section  10.  No  law  shall  be  passed,  abridging  the  right  of 
the  people  peaceably  to  assemble  and  to  i^etition  the  govern- 
ment, or  any  department  thereof,  nor  shall  any  divorce  be 
granted,  otlierwise  than  by  due  judicial  proceedings,  nor  shall 
any  lottery  hereafter  be  authorized,  or  any  sale  of  lottery  tickets^ 
allowed  within  this  State. 

Section  11.  The  people  of  this  State,  in  their  right  of  sove- 
reignty, are  deemed  to  possess  the  original  and  ultimate  pro- 
perly in  and  to  all  lands  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  ;  and 
all  lands  the  tide  to  which  shall  fail,  from  a  defect  of  hfirs,  shall 
revert,  or  escheat  to  the  people. 

Section  12.  All  feudal  tenures  of  every  descriptioji,  with  ail 
their  incidents,  are  declared  to  be  abolished,  saving  however, 
all  rents  and  services  certain  which  at  any  time  heretofore 
heve  been  lawfully  created  or  reserved. 

Section  13.  All  lands  within  this  State  are  declared  to  be 
allodial,  so  that,  subject  only  to  the  liability  to  escheat,  the  entire 
and  absolute  property  is  vested  in  the  owners  according  to  the 
nature  of  their  respective  estates. 

Section  14.  No  lease  or  grant  of  agricultural  land,  for  a  longer 
period  than  twelve  years,  hereafter  made,  in  Avhich  shall  be 
reserved  any  rent  or  service  of  any  kind,  shall  be  valid. 

Section  15.  All   fines  quarter  sales,  or  other  like   restraint? 


STATK    OK    NEW    YORK.  115 

upon  alienation  reserved  in  any  grant  of  land,  hereafter  to  be 
made,  shall  be  void. 

Section  16.  No  purchase  or  contract  for  the  sale  of  lands  in 
this  State,  made  since  the  fourteenth  day  of  October,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-five;  or  which  may  hereafter  be 
made,  of  or  with  the  Indians,  shall  be  valid,  unless  made  under 
the  authority,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Legislature. 

Section  17.  Such  parts  of  the  common  law,  and  of  the  acts  of 
the  Legislature  of  the  colony  of  New  York,  as  together  did  form 
the  law  of  the  said  colony,  on  the  inneteenth  day  of  April,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five,  and  the  resolutions  of 
the  Congress  of  the  said  colony,  and  of  the  Convention  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  in  force  on  the  twentieth  day  of  April,  one 
thousand  sev^en   hundred  and  seventy-seven,  which  have  not 
since  expired,  or  been  repealed  or  altered  and  such  acts  of  the 
Legislature  of  this  State  as  are  now  in  force,  shall  be  and  continue 
the  law  of  this  State,  subject  to  such  alterations  as  the  Legis- 
lature shall  make  concerning  the  same.    But  all  such  parts  of  the 
common  law,  and  such  of  the  said  acts,  and  parts  thereof  as  are 
repu2;nant  to  this  Constitution,  are  hereby  abrogated ;  and  the 
Legislature,  at  its  first  session  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitu- 
tion, shall  appoint  three  commissioners,  whose  duty  it  shall  be 
to  reduce  into  a  written  and  systematic  code  the  whole  body  of 
the  lav/  of  this  State,  or  so  much  and  such  parts  thereof  as  to 
the  said  commissioners  shall  seem,  practicable  and  expedient. 
And  the  said  commissioners  shall  specify  such  alterations  and 
amendments  therein  as  they  shall  deem  proper,  and  they  shall  at 
ail  times  make  reports  of  their  proceedings  to  the  Legislature, 
when  called  upon  to  do  so  ;  and  the  Legislature  shall  pass  laws 
regulating  the  tenure  of  office,  the  filling  of  vacancies  therein, 
an'cl  the  compensation  of  the  said  commissioners ;  and  shall  also 
provide  for  the  publication  ol'  the  said  code,  prior  to  its  being 
l)resented  to  the  Legislature  for  adoption. 

Section  18.  All  gi-ant^  of  land  within  this  Slate,  made  by  the 
King  of  Great  Britain,  or  persons  acting  under  his  authority,  after 
the  fourteenth  day  of  October,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-five,  shall  be  null  and  void  ;  but  nothing  contained  in 
this  Constitution  shall  affect  any  grants  of  land  within  this  State, 
made  by  the  authority  of  the  said  King  or  his  predecessors,  or 
shall  annul  any  charters  to  bodies  politic  and  corporate,  by  him 
^or  them  made,  before  that  day  ;  or  shall  aflTectany  such  grants  or 
charters  since  made  by  this  State,  or  by  persons  acting  under  its 
authority,  or  shall  impair  the  obligation  of  any  debts  contracted 
by  tl^is  State,  or  individuals,  or  bodies  corporate,  or  any  other 
rights  of  property,  or  any  suits,  actions,  rights  of  action,  or  other 
proceedings  of  courts  of  justice. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Section  1.  Every  male  citizen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  j'ears, 
who  shall  have  been  a  citizen  for  ten  days,  aiul  an  inhabitant  af 


116  CONSTITUTION    OF 

this  State  one  year  next  preceding  any  election,  and  for  the  last 
four  months  a  resilient  of  the  county  where  ne  may  offer  his  vote, 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  such  election,  in  the  election  district 
of  which  he  shall  at  the  time  be  a  resident,  and  not  elsewhere, 
for  all  officers  that  now  are  or  hereafter  may  be  elective  by  the 
people  ;  but  such  citizen  shall  have  been  for  thirty  days  next  pre- 
ceding the  election,  a  resident  of  the  district  from  which  the 
officer  is  to  be  chosen  for  whom  he  offers  his  vote.  But  no  man 
of  color,  unless  he  shall  have  been  for  three  years  a  citizen  of 
this  State,  and  for  one  year  next  preceding  any  election  shall 
have  been  seized  and  possessed  of  a  freehold  estate  of  the  value 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  over  and  above  all  debts  and 
incumbrances  charged  thereon,  and  shall  have  been  actually 
rated  and  paid  a  tax  thereon,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  such 
election.  And  no  person  of  color  shall  be  subject  to  direct 
taxation  unless  he  shall  be  seized  and  possessed  of  such  real 
estate  as  aforesaid. 

Section  2.  Laws  may  be  passed  excluding  from  the  right  of 
suffrage  all  persons  who  have  been  or  may  be  convicted  of 
bribery,  of  larceny,  or  of  any  infamous  crime  ;  and  for  depriving 
every  person  who  shall  make,  or  become  directly  or  indirectly 
interested  in  any  bet  or  wager  depending  upon  the  result  of  any 
election,  from  the  right  to  vote  at  such  election. 

Section  3.  For  the  purpose  of  voting,  no  person  shall  be 
deemed  to  have  gained  or  lost  a  residence,  by  reason  of  his 
presence  or  absence,  while  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  or  on  the  high  seas ;  nor  while  a  student  of  any  seminary 
of  learning  ;  nor  while  kept  at  any  alms  house,  or  other  asylum', 
at  public  expense;  nor  while  coiifined  in  any  public  prison. 

Section  4.  Laws  shall  be  made  for  asceVtaining  by  projier 
proofs  the  citizens  who  shall  be  entitled  to  the  right  of  suffrage 
hereby  e.stablislied. 

Section  5.  All  elections  by  the  citizens  shall  be  by  ballot, 
except  for  .';uch  town  officers  as  may  by  law  be  directed  to  be 
otherwise  chosen. 

ARTICLE  IIL 

Section  1.  The  legi.slative  power  of  this  Stale  .shall  be  vested 
in  a  Senate  and  Assembly. 

Section  2.  The  Senate  shall  consist  of  thirty-two  members,  and 
the  Senators  shall  be  chosen  for  two  years  The  Assembly  shall 
consist  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members,  who  slfail  be 
annually  elected. 

Section  3.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  thirty-two  districts, 
to  be  called  Senate  Districts,  each  of  which  shall  choose  one 
Senator.  The  Districts  shall  be  numbered  from  one  to  thirty-two 
inclusive. 

District  number  one  (1)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of  SufToIk, 
Richmond,  and  Queens. 

District  number  two  (2)  shall  consist  of  the  county  of  Kuigs. 


I 


THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK,  117 

District  number  three  (3),  number  four  (4),  number  five  (5),  and 
number  six  (6),  shall  consist  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  : 
and  the  board  of  supervisors  of  said  city  and  county  shall,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  May  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-seven,  divide  the  said  city  and  county  into  the  number  of 
.Senate  Districts  to  which  it  is  entitled,  as  near  as  may  be  of  an 
equal  number  of  inhabitants,  excluding  aliens  and  persons  of 
color  not  taxed,  and  consisting  of  convenient  and  contigxions 
territory ;  and  no  Assembly  District  shall  be  divided  in  the  forma- 
tion of  a  Senate  District.  The  board  of  supervisors,  when  they 
shall  have  completed  such  division,  shall  cause  certificates 
thereof,  stating  the  number  and  boundaries  of  each  district,  and 
the  population  thereof,  to  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  and  of  the  clerk  of  the  said  city  and  county. 

District  number  seven  (7)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Westchester,  Putnam,  and  Rockland. 

District  number  eight  (8)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Duchess  and  Columbia. 

District  number  nine  (9)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Orange  and  Sullivan. 

District  number  ten  (10)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of  Ulster 
and  Greene. 

District  number  eleven  (11)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Albany  and  Schenectady. 

District  number  twelve  (12)  shall  consist  of  the  county  of 
Rensselaer. 

District  number  thirteen  (13)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Washington  and  Saratoga. 

District  number  fomteen  (14)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Warren,  Essex,  and  Clinton. 

District  number  fifteen  (15)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of  St. 
Lawrence  and  Franklin. 

District  number  sixteen  (16)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Herkimer,  Hamilton,  Fulton,  and  Montgomery. 

District  number  seventeen  (17)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Sclioharie  and  Delaware. 

District  number  eighteen  (18)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Otsego  and  Chenango. 

District  number  nineteen  (19)  shall  consist  of  the  county  of 
Oneida. 

District  ni>mber  twenty  (20)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Madison  and  Oswego. 

District  number  twenty-one  (5l)  shall  consi.'st  of  the  counties  of 
Jefferson  and  Lewis. 

District  number  twenty-two  (22)  shall  consist  of  the  couiuy 
of  Onondaga. 

District  number  twenty-three  (23)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Cortland,  Broome,  and  Tioga. 

District  number  twenty-four  (24)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Cayuga  and  Wayne. 


J  18  CONSTITUTION    OF 

Pistrict  number  twenty-five  (25)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Tompkins,  Seneca,  and  Yates. 

District  number  twenty-six  (26)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Steuben  and  Chemung. 

District  number  twenty-seven  (27)  shall  consist  of  the  county 
of  Monroe. 

District  number  twenty-eight  (28)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Orleans,  Genesee,  and  Niagara. 

District  number  twenty-nine  (29)  shall  consist  of  the  counties 
of  Ontario  and  Livingston. 

District  number  thirty  (30)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Allegany  and  Wyoming. 

District  number  thirty-one  (31)  shall  consist  of  the  county  of 
Erie. 

District  number  thirty-two  (32)  shall  consist  of  the  counties  of 
Chautauque  and  Cattaraugus. 

Section  4.  An  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State 
shall  be  taken,  under  the  direction  of  the  Legislature,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-fiv^e,  and  at  the  end  of 
every  ten  years  thereafter ;  and  the  said  districts  shall  be  so 
altered  by  the  Legislature,  at  the  first  session  after  the  return  of 
every  enumeration,  that  each  Senate  District  shall  contain,  as 
nearly  as  may  be,  an  eqnal  number  of  inhabitants,  excluding 
aliens,  and  j)ersons  of  color  not  taxed ;  and  shall  remain  un- 
altered until  the  return  of  another  enumeration,  and  shall  at  all 
times  consist  of  contiguous  territory;  and  no  county  shall  be 
divided  in  the  formation  of  a  Senate  district,  except  such  county 
shall  be  equitably  entitled  to  two  or  more  Senators. 

Section  5.  The  members  of  Assembly  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  counties  of  this  State,  by  the  Legislature,  as 
nearly  as  may  be,  according  to  the  number  of  their  respective 
inhabitants,  excluding  aliens,  and  persons  of  color  not  taxed, 
and  shall  be  chosen  by  single  districts. 

The  several  boards  of  supervisors  in  such  counties  of  this 
State,  as  are  now  eiuitled  to  more  than  one  member  of  Assembly, 
.shall  assemble  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  January  next,  and  divide 
their  respective  counties  into  As.sembly  districts  equal  to  the 
nnmber  of  members  of  Assembly  to  which  such  connties^are 
now  severally  entitled  bv  \nw,  and  shall  cause  to  be  filed  in  the 
offices  of  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  clerks  of  their  respective 
counties,  a  description  of  such  Assembly  districts,  sriecifying 
the  number  of  each  district  and  the  population  thereof,  according 
to  the  last  preceding  State  enumeration,  as  near  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained. Each  Assembly  district  shall  contahi,  as  nearly  as  may 
be,  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants,  excluding  aliens  and  persons 
of  color  not  taxed,  and  shall  consist  of  convenient  and  contiguous 
territory;  but  no  town  shall  be  divided  in  the  formation  of  As- 
sembly districts. 

The  Legislature,  at  its  first  session  after  the  return  of  every 
enumeration,  .shall  re-apportion  the  members  of  Assembly  among 
the  several  ronnties  of  this  State,  in  manner  aforesaid,  and  the 


THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK.  119 

boards  of  supervisors  in  siich  counties  as  may  be  entitled,  under 
such  re-apportionment,  to  more  than  one  member,  shall  assem- 
ble at  such  time  as  the  Legislature  making  such  re-apportionment 
shall  prescribe,  and  divide  such  counties  into  Assembly  districts, 
in  the  manner  herein  directed  ;  and  the  apportionment  and  dis- 
tricts so  to  be  made,  shall  remain  unaltered  until  another  enu- 
meration shall  be  taken  under  the  provisions  of  the  preceding 
section. 

Every  county  heretofore  established  and  separately  organized, 
except  the  county  of  Hamilton,  shall  always  be  entitled  to  one 
member  of  the  Assembly,  and  no  new  county  shall  be  hereafter 
erected,  unless  its  population  shall  entitle  it  to  a  member. 

The  county  of  Hamilton  shall  elect  with  the  county  of  Fulton, 
until  the  population  of  the  county  of  Hamilton  shall,  according 
to  the  ratio,  be  entitled  to  a  member. 

Section  6.  The  members  of  the  Legislature  shall  receive  for 
their  services  a  sum  not  exceeding  three  dollars  a  day,  from  the 
comm.encement  of  the  session ;  but  such  pay  shall  not  exceed 
in  the  aggregate  three  hundred  dollars  for  per  diem  allowance, 
except  in  proceedings  for  impeachment.  The  limitation  as  to 
the  aggregate  compensation  shall  not  take  effect  until  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight.  When  convened 
in  extra  session  by  the  Governor,  they  shall  receive  three  dollars 
per  day.  They  shall  also  receive  the  sum  of  one  dollar  for  every 
ten  miles  they  shall  travel  in  going  to  and  returning  from  their 
place  of  meeting,  on  the  most  usual  route.  The  speaker  of  the 
Assembly  shall,  in  virtue  of  his  ofhce,  receive  an  additional  com- 
pensation equal  to  one-third  of  his  per  diem  allowance  as  a 
member. 

Section  7.  No  member  of  the  Legislature  shall  receive  any 
civil  appointment  within  this  State,  or  to  the  Senate  of  the  Unit- 
ed States,  from  the  Governor,  the  Governor  and  Senate,  or  from 
the  Legislature,  durilig  the  term  for  which  he  shall  have  been 
elected  ;  and  all  such  appointments,  and  all  votes  given  for  any 
such  member,  for  any  such  office  or  appointment,  shall  be 
void. 

Section  8.  No  person  being  a  member  of  Congress,  or  holding 
any  judicial  or  military  office  under  the  United  States,  shall  hold 
a  seat  in  the  Legislature.  And  if  any  person  shall,  after  his 
election  as  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  be  elected  to  Congress, 
or  appointed  to  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  his  acceptance  thereof  shall  vacate 
his  seat. 

Section  9.  The  elections  of  Senators  and  members  of  Assem- 
bly, pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  held 
on  the  Tuesday  succeeding  the  first  Monday  of  November,  un- 
less otherwise  directed  by  the  Legislature. 

Section  10.  A  majority  of  each  house  shall  constitute  a  quo- 
rum to  do  business.  Each  house  shall  determine  the  rules  of 
its  own  proceedings,  and  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns, 
and  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  shall   choose  its  own 


120  '  rONSTITUTION    OF 

ofRcers ;  and  tlie  Senate  shall  choose  a  temporary  president, 
when  the  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  not  attend  as  president,  or 
shall  act  as  Governor. 

Section  11.  Each  house  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceed- 
ings, and  publish  the  same,  except  such  parts  as  may  require 
secrecy.  The  doors  of  each  house  shall  be  kept  open,  except 
when  the  public  \\'elfare  shall  require  secrecy.  Neither  house 
shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than 
two  days. 

Section  12.  For  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  house  of  the 
Legislature,  the  members  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other 
place. 

Section  13.  Any  bill  may  originate  in  either  house  of  the 
Legislature,  and  all  bills  passed  by  one  house  may  be  amended 
by  the  other. 

Section  14.  The  enacting  clause  of  all  bills  shall  be  "  The  peo- 
ple of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assem- 
bly, do  enact  as  follows,"  and  no  law  shall  be  enacted  except 
by  bill. 

Section  15.  No  bill  shall  be  passed  unless  by  the  assent  of  a 
majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  branch  of  the  Legis- 
lature, and  the  question  upon  the  final  passage  shall  be  taken 
immediately  upon  its  last  reading,  and  the  yeas  and  nays  enter- 
ed on  the  journal. 

Section  16.  No  private  or  local  bill,  which  may  be  passed  by 
the  Legislature,  shall  embroce  more  than  one  subject,  and  that 
shall  be  expressed  in  the  title. 

Section  17.  The  Legislature  may  confer  upon  the  boarJs  of 
supervisors  of  the  several  counties  of  the  State,  such  further 
powers  of  local  legislation  and  administration  as  they  shall  from 
time  to  time  prescribe. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Section  1.  The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Governor, 
who  shall  hold  his  office  for  two  years  :  a  Lieutenant  Governor 
shall  be  chosen  at  the  same  time,  and  for  the  same  term. 

Section  2.  No  person,  except  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Governor;  nor  shall  any  person 
be  eligible  to  that  ofiice,  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of 
thirty  year.?,  and  who  dial!  not  have  been  five  years  next  pre- 
ceding his  election,  a  resident  within  this  State. 

Section  3.  The  Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  be 
elected  at  the  times  and  places  of  choosing  members  of  the 
Assembly.  The  persons  respectively  having  the  highest  num- 
ber of  votes  for  Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governor,  shall  be 
elected  ;  but  in  case  two  or  more  shall  have  an  equal  and  the 
highest  number  of  votes  for  Governor,  or  for  Lieutenant  Gover- 
nor, the  two  houses  of  the  Legislature,  at  its  next  annual  ses- 
sion, shall,  forthwith,  by  joint  ballot,  choose  one  of  the  said 
persons  so  having  an  equal  and  the  highest  number  of  vjotes  for 
Governor,  or  Lieutenant  Governor. 


THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK.  121 

F  Section  4.  The  Governor  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
military  and  naval  forces  of  the  State.  He  shall  have  power  to 
convene  the  Legislature  (or  the  Senate  only)  on  extraordinary 
occasions.  He  shall  communicate  by  message  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, at  e%'ery  session,  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  recommend 
such  matters  to  them  as  he  shall  judge  expedient.  He  shall 
transact  all  necessary  business  with  tlie  ofiicers  of  government, 
civil  and  mihtary.  He  shall  expedite  all  such  measures,  as  may 
be  resolved  upon  by  the  Legislature,  and  shall  take  care  that  the 
1-aws  are  faithfully  executed.  He  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive 
for  his  services  a  compensation  to  be  established  by  law,  which 
shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished  after  his  election  and 
during  his  continuance  in  ofllce. 

Section  5.  The  Governor  shall  have  the  power  to  grant  re- 
prieves, commutations  and  pardons  after  conviction,  for  all  of- 
fences, except  treason  and  cases  of  impeachment,  upon  such 
conditions,  and  with  such  restrictions  and  limitations, as  he  may 
think  proper,  subject  to  such  regulation  as  may  be  provided  by 
law  relative  to  the  manner  of  applying  for  pardons.  Upon  con- 
viction for  treason,  he  shall  have  power  to  suspend  tlie  execu- 
tion of  the  sentence,  itntil  the  case  shall  be  reported  to  the  Le- 
gislature at  its  next  meeting,  when  the  Legislature  sliall  either 
pardon,  or  commute  the  sentence,  direct  the  execution  of  the 
sentence,  or  grant  a  further  reprieve.  He  shall  annually  com- 
municate to  the  Legislature  each  case  of  reprieve,  commutation 
or  pardon  granted  ;  stating  the  name  of  the  convict,  the  crime 
of  which  he  was  convicted,  Ihe  sentence  and  its  date,  and  the 
date  of  the  commutation,  pardon,  or  reprieve. 

Section  6.  In  case  of  the  impeachment  of  the  Governor,  or  his 
removal  from  office,  death,  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and 
duties  of  the  said  office,  resignation,  or  absence  from  the  State, 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  office  shall  devolve  upon  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor for  the  residue  of  the  term,  or  until  the  dis- 
ability shall  cease.  But  when  the  Governor  shall,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  Legislature,  be  out  of  the  State  in  time  of  war,  at  the 
head  of  a  military  force  thereof,  he  shall  continue  commander- 
in-chief  of  all  the  military  force  of  the  State. 

Section  7.  The  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  possess  the  same 
qualifications  of  eligibility  for  office  as  the  Governor.  He  shall 
be  president  of  tlie  Senate,  but  shall  only  have  a  casting  vote 
therein.  If  during  a  vacancy  of  the  office  of  Governor,  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor shall  be  impeached,  displaced,  resign,  die,  or 
become  hicapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  his  office,  or  be  ab- 
sent from  the  State,  the  President  of  the  Senate  shall  act  as  Go- 
vernor, imtil  the  vacancy  be  filled,  or  the  disability  shall  cease. 

Section  8.  Tiie  Lieutenant-Governor  shall,  while  acting  as 
such,  receive  a  compensation  which  shall  be  fixed  by  law,  and 
which  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  his  continu- 
ance in  office. 

Section  9.  Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  Senate  and 
Assembly,  shall,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  presented  to  the  Go^ 
vernor;  if  he  approve,  he  shall  sign  it;  but  if  not,  he  shall  re- 
7 


122  CONSTITUTION    Ol- 

lum  it  with  his  objections  to  that  house  in  whicli  it  shall  have 
originated  ;  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  on  their  jour- 
nal and  proceed  to  re-consider  it.  If  after  such  re-consideration, 
two-thirds  of  the  members  present  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill, 
it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections  to  the  other  house, 
by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  re-considered  ;  and  if  approved 
by  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  present,  it  shall  become  a  law, 
noth withstanding  the  objections  of  the  Governor.  But  in  all 
such  cases,  the  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be  determined  by 
yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  the  members  voting  for  and 
against  the  bill,  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house 
respectively.  If  any  bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  Governor 
within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  pre- 
sented to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he 
had  signed  it,  unless  the  Legislature  shall,  by  their  adjournment, 
prevent  its  return  ;  in  whicii  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Section  1.  The  Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller,  Treasurer,  and 
Attorney-General  shall  be  chosen  at  a  general  election,  and  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  two  years.  Each  of  the  officers  in  this  Ar- 
ticle named  (except  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly),  shall  at  stated 
times  during  his  continuance  in  office,  receive  for  his  services, 
a  compensation,  which  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished 
during  the  term  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected  ;  nor  shall 
he  receive,  to  his  use,  any  fees  or  perquisites  of  office,  or  other 
compensation. 

Section  2.  A  State  Engineer  and  Surveyor  shall  be  chosen  at 
a  general  election,  and  shall  hold  his  office  two  years,  but  no 
person  shall  be  elected  to  said  office  who  is  not  a  practical 
ergineer. 

Section  3.  Three  Canal  Commissioners  shall  be  chosen  at  the 
general  election  which  shall  be  held  next  after  the  adoption  of 
this  Constitution,  one  of  whom  shall  hold  his  office  for  one  year, 
one  for  two  years,  and  one  for  three  years.  The  Commissioners 
of  the  Canal  Fund  shall  meet  at  the  Capitol  on  the  first  Monday 
of  January,  next  after  such  election,  and  determine  by  lot  which 
of  said  Commissioners  shall  hold  his  office  for  one  year,  which 
for  two,  and  which  for  three  years  ;  and  there  slui'l  be  elected 
annually  thereafter,  one  Canal  Commissioner,  who  shall  hold 
his  office  for  three  years. 

Section  4.  Three  Inspectors  of  State  Prisons  shall  be  elected 
at  the  general  election  which  shall  be  held  next  after  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  one  of  whom  shall  hold  his  office 
for  one  year,  one  for  two  years,  and  one  for  three  years.  The 
Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  and  Comptroller,  shall  meet  at  the 
Capitol  on  the  first  Monday  of  January  next  succeeding  such 
election,  and  determine  by  lot  which  of  said  Inspectors  shall 
hold  his  office  for  one  year,  which  for  two,  and  which  for  three 
years ;  and  there  shall  be  elected  annually  thereafter  one  In- 
spector of  State  Prisons,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  three 
years ;  said  Inspectors  shall  have  the  charge  and  superintend' 


THE    STATE    OF    NEW    VORK.  123 

ence  of  the  State  Prisons,  and  shall  appoint  all  fiie  officers 
therein.  All  vacancies  in  the  office  of  snch  Inspector  shall  be 
filled  by  the  Governor,  till  the  next  election. 

Section  5.  The  Lieutenant-Governor,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly, 
Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller,  Treasurer,  Attorney-'General  and 
State  Engineer  and  Surveyor,  shall  be  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Land-OiRce. 

The  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller, 
Treasurer,  and  Attorney-General,  shall  be  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Canal  Fund. 

The  Canal  Board  shall  consist  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Canal  Fund,  the  State  Engineer,  and  Surveyor,  and  the  Canal 
Commisioners. 

Section  6.  The  powers  and  duties  of  the  respective  boards, 
and  of  the  several  officers  in  this  Article  mentioneil,  shall  be  such 
as  now  are  or  hereafter  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Section  7.  The  Treasurer  may  be  suspended  from  office  by  the 
Governor,  during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature,  and  until  thirty 
days  after  the  commencement  of  the  next  session  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, whenever  it  shall  appear  to  him  that  such  Treasurer  has,  in 
any  particular,  violated  his  duty.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  a 
competent  pierson  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office,  durhig 
such  suspension  of  the  Treasurer. 

Section  8.  All  offices  for  the  weighing,  gauging,  measuring, 
culling  or  inspecting  any  merchandise,  produce,  manufacture  or 
commodity  whatever,  are  hereby  abolished,  and  no  such  office 
shall  hereafter  be  created  by  law;  but  nothing  in  this  section 
contained,  shall  abrogate  any  office  created  for  ihe  purpose  of 
protecting  the  public  health  or  the  interests  of  the  State  in  its 
property,  revenue,  tolls,  or  purchases,  or  of  supplying  the  peo- 
ple with  correct  standards  of  weights  and  measures,  or  shall  pre- 
vent the  cieation  of  any  office  for  such  purposes  hereafter. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Section  1.  The  Assembly  shall  Iiave  the  power  of  impeach- 
ment, by  the  vote  of  the  majority  of  all  the  members  elected. 
The  conrt  for  the  trial  of  impeachments,  shall  be  composed  of 
the  President  of  the  Senate,  the  Senators,  or  a  major  part  of 
them,  and  the  judges  of  the  court  of  appeals,  or  the  major  part 
o.f  them.  On  the  trial  of  an  impeachment  against  the  Governor, 
the  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  not  act  as  a  member  of  the  court. 
No  judicial  officer  shall  exercise  his  office  after  he  shall 
have  been  impeached,  until  he  shall  have  been  acquitted.  Be- 
fore the  trial  of  an  impeachment,  the  members  of  the  court  shall 
take  an  oath  or  affirmation,  truly  and  impartially  to  try  the  im- 
peachment, according  to  evidence  ;  and  no  person  shall  be  con- 
victed, without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present.  Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend 
further  than  to  removal  from  office,  or  removal  from  office  and 
disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any  cihce  of  honor,  trust  or 
profit  under  this  State ;  but  the  party  impeached  shall  be  liable 
to  indictntent,  and  punishm.ent  according  to  law. 


124  CONSTITUTION    OF 

Section  2.  There  shall  be  a  Court  of  Appeals,  composed  of 
eight  judges,  of  whom  four  shall  be  elected  by  the  electors  of  the 
State  for  eight  years,  and  four  selected  from  the  class  of  Justices 
of  the  Supreme  Court  having  the  shortest  time  to  serve.  Pro- 
vision shall  be  made  by  law  for  designating  one  of  the  number 
elected,  as  chief  judge,  and  for  selecting  such  Justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  from  time  to  time,  and  for  so  classifying  those 
elected,  that  one  shall  be  elected  every  second  year. 

Section  3.  There  shall  be  a  Supreme  Court  having  general  ju- 
risdiction inlaw  and  equity. 

Section  4.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  eight  judicial  dis- 
tricts, of  which  the  city  of  New  York  shall  be  one  ;  the  others 
to  be  bounded  by  county  lines  and  to  be  compact  and  equal  in 
population  as  nearly  as  may  be.  There  shall  be  four  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  each  district,  and  as  many  more  in  the 
district  composed  of  the  city  of  New-York,  as  may  from  time  to 
time  be  authorized  by  law,  but  not  to  exceed  in  the  whole  such 
number  in  proportion  to  its  population,  as  shall  be  in  conformity 
with  the  number  of  such  judges  in  the  residue  of  the  State  in 
proportion  to  its  population.  They  shall  be  classified  so  that 
one  of  the  justices  of  each  district  shall  go  out  of  office  at  the 
end  of  every  two  years.  After  the  expiration  of  their  terms  un- 
der such  classification,  the  term  of  their  office  shall  be  eight  years. 

Section  5.  The  Legislature  shall  have  the  same  powers  to  al- 
ter and  regulate  the  jurisdiction  and  proceedings  in  law  and 
equity,  as  they  have  heretofore  possessed. 

Section  6.  Provision  may  be  made  by  law  for  designating,  fiom 
time  to  time,  one  or  more  of  the  said  justices,  who  is  not  a  judge 
of  the  court  of  appeals,  to  preside  at  the  general  terms  of  the 
said  court  to  be  held  in  the  several  districts.  Any  three  or  more 
cf  the  said  justices,  of  whom  one  of  the  said  justices  so  desig- 
nated shall  always  be  one,  may  hold  such  general  terms.  And 
any  one  or  more  of  the  justices  may  hold  special  terms  and  cir- 
cuit courts,  and  any  one  of  them  may  preside  in  courts  of  oyer 
and  terminer  in  any  county. 

Section  7.  The  judges  of  the  court  of  appeals  and  justices  of 
the  supreme  court  shall  severally  receive  at  stated  times  for  their 
services  a  compensation  to  be  established  by  law,  which  shall 
not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  iheir  continuance  in  office. 

Section  8.  They  shall  not  hold  any  other  office  or  public  trust. 
All  votes  for  either  of  them,  for  any  elective  office  (except  that 
of  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  or  judge  of  the  court  of  ap- 
peals), given  by  tlie  Legislature  or  the  people,  shall  be  void. 
They  shall  not  exercise  any  power  of  appointment  to  public  of- 
fice. Any  male  citizen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  of  good 
moral  character,  and  who  possesses  the  requisite  qualifications 
of  learning  and  ability,  shall  be  entitled  to  admission  to  practise 
in  all  the  courts  of  this  State. 

Section  9.  The  classification  of  the  justices  of  the  supreme 
court ;  the  times  and  place  of  holding  the  terms  of  the  court  of 
appeals,  and  of  the  general  and  special  terms  of  the  supreme 
court  within  the  several  districts,  and  the  circuit  courts  and  courts 


THE    STATK    OF    NEW    YORK.  126 

of  oyer  and  rermiiier  within  the  several  counties,  shall  be  pro- 
vided for  by  law. 

Section  10.  The  testimony  in  equity  cases  shall  be  taken  in 
like  manner  as  in  cases  at  law. 

Section  11.  Justices  of  the  supreme  court  and  judges  of  the 
court  of  appeals,  may  be  removed  by  concurrent  resolution  of 
both  Houses  of  the  Legislature,  if  two-thirds  of  all  the  members 
elected  to  the  Assembly  and  a  majority  of  all  the  members 
elected  to  the  Senate,  concur  therein.  AH  judicial  officers,  ex- 
cept those  mentioned  in  this  section,  and  except  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  judges  and  justices  of  inferior  courts  not  of  record, 
may  be  removed  by  the  Senate  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Governor;  but  no  removal  shall  be  made  by  virtue  of  this  section, 
unless  the  cause  thereof  be  entered  on  the  journals,  nor  unless 
the  party  complained  of,  shall  have  been  served  with  a  copy  of 
the  complaint  against  him,  and  shall  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  being  heard  in  his  defence.  On  the  question  of  removal,  the 
ayes  and  noes  shall  be  entered  on  the  journals. 

Section  12.  The  judges  of  the  court  of  appeals  shall  be  elected 
by  the  electors  of  the  State,  and  the  justices  of  the  supreme 
court  by  the  electors  of  the  several  judicial  districts,  at  such 
times  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Section  13.  In  case  the  office  of  any  judge  of  the  court  of 
appeals,  or  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  shall  become  vacant 
before  the  expiration  of  the  regular  term  for  which  he  was 
elected,  the  vacancy  may  be  filled  by  appointment  by  the  Go- 
vernor, until  it  shall  be  supplied  at  the  next  general  election  of 
judges,  when  it  shall  be  filled  by  election  for  the  residue  of  the 
unexpired  term. 

Section  14.  There  shall  be  elected  in  each  of  the  counties  of 
this  State,  except  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  one  county 
judge,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  four  years.  He  shall  hold  the 
county  court,  and  perform  the  duties  of  the  office  of  surrogate. 
The  county  court  shall  have  such  jurisdiction  in  cases  arising  in 
justices'  courts,  and  in  special  cases,  as  the  Legislature  may  pre- 
scribe ;  but  shall  have  no  original  civil  jurisdiction,  except  in 
such  special  cases. 

The  county  judge,  with  two  justices  of  the  peace  to  be  desig- 
nated according  to  law,  may  hold  courts  of  sessions,  with  such 
criminal  jurisdiction  as  the  Legislature  shall  prescribe,  and  per- 
form such  other  duties  as  may  be  required  by  law. 

The  county  judge  shall  receive  an  annual  salary,  to  be  fixed 
by  the  board  of  supervisors,  which  shall  be  neither  increased  nor 
diminished  during  his  continuance  in  office.  The  justices  of  the 
peace,  for  services  in  courts  of  sessions,  shall  be  paid  a  per  diem 
allowance  out  of  the  county  treasury. 

In  counties  having  a  population  exceeding  forty  thousand,  the 
Legislature  may  provide  for  the  election  of  a  separate  officer  to 
perform  the  duties  of  the  office  of  surrogate. 

The  legislature  may  confer  equity  jurisdiction  in  special  cases 
upon  the  county  judge. 

Inferior  local  courts,  of  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  may  be 


126  CONbTITUTIOiN'    OF 

established  by  ihe  Legislature  in  cities ;  and  such  courts,  except 
for  the  cities  of  New-York  and  Buffalo,  shall  liave  an  uniform 
organization  and  jurisdiction  in  such  cities. 

Section  15.  The  Le2:islature  may,  on  application  of  the  board 
of  supervisors  provide  for  the  election  of  local  officers,  not  to  ex- 
ceed two  in  any  county,  to  discharge  the  duties  of  countyjudge 
and  of  surrogate,  in  cases  of  their  inability  or  of  a  vacancy,  and 
to  exercise  such  other  powers  in  special  cases  as  may  be  pro- 
vided by  law. 

Section  16.  The  Legislature  may  re-organize  th<?  judicial  dis- 
tricts at  the  first  session  after  the  return  of  every  enumeration 
under  this  Constitution,  in  the  manner  provided  for  in  the  fourth 
section  of  this  Article  and  at  no  other  time ;  and  they  may,  at 
such  session,  increase  or  diminish  the  number  of  districts,  but 
such  increase  or  diminution  shall  not  be  more  than  one  district  at 
any  one  time.  Each  district  shall  have  four  justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court ;  biTt  no  diminution  of  the  districts  shall  have  the 
effect  to  remove  a  judge  from  office. 

Section  17.  The  electors  of  the  several  towns,  shall,  at  their 
annual  town  meeting,  and  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature 
may  direct,  elect  justices  of  the  peace,  whose  term  of  office  shall 
be  four  years.  In  case  of  an  election  to  fill  a  vacancy  occumng 
before  the  expiration  of  a  full  term  they  shall  hold  for  the  residue 
of  the  unexpired  term.  Their  number  and  classification  may  be 
regulated  by  law.  Justices  of  the  peace  and  judges  or  justices 
of  inferior  courts,  not  of  record,  and  their  clerks  may  be  removed 
after  due  notice  and  an  opportunity  of  being  heard  in  their  de- 
fence by  such  county,  city,  or  state  courts  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  law,  for  causes  to  be  assigned  in  the  order  of  removal. 

Section  18.  All  judicial  officers  of  cities  and  villages,  and  all 
such  judicial  officers  as  may  be  created  therein  by  law,  shall  be 
elected  at  such  times  and  in  such  maimer  as  the  Legislature  may 
direct. 

Section  19.  Clerks  of  the  several  counties  of  this  State  shall 
be  clerks  of  the  Supreme  Court,  with  such  powers  and  duties  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  A  clerk  for  the  Court  of  Appeals,  to 
be  ex-officio  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  to  keep  his  office 
at  the  seat  of  government,  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors  of  the 
State;  he  shall  hold  his  office  for  three  years,  and  his  compen- 
sation shall  be  fixed  by  law,  and  paid  out  of  the  public  Traasury, 
Section  20.  No  judicial  officer,  except  justices  of  the  peace 
shall  receive  to  his  own  use,  any  fees  or  perquisites  of  office. 

Section  21.  The  Legislatine  may  authorize  the  judgments,  de- 
crees, and  decisions  of  any  local  inferior  court  or  record  of  ori- 
ginal civil  jurisdiction,  established  in  a  city,  to  be  removed  for 
review  directly  into  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

Section  22.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  the  speedy  publi- 
cation of  all  statute  laws,  and  of  such  judicial  decisions  as  it 
may  deem  expedient  And  all  laws  and  judicial  decisions  shall 
be  free  for  publication  by  any  person. 

Section  23.  Tribunals  of  conciliation  may  be  established,  with 
such  powers  and  duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law,  but  such 


THE    STATK    OK    NEW    YORK.  127 

tribunals  shall  have  no  power  to  render  jatlgmcnt  t:)  be  obliga- 
tory oa  the  parties,  except  they  voluntarily  submit  their  matters 
in  difference,  and  agree  to  abide  the  judgment,  or  assent  thereto, 
in  the  presence  of  such  tribunal,  in  such  cases  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

Section  24.  The  Legislature,  at  its  first  session  after  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  shall  iirovide  for  the  appointment  of 
three  commissioners,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  revise,  reform, 
simplify,  and  abridge  the  rules  and  practice,  pleadings,  forms,  and 
proceedings  of  the  courts  of  record  of  this  State,  and  to  report 
thereon  to  the  Legislature,  subject  to  their  adoption  and  modifi- 
cation from  time  to  time. 

Section  25.  The  Legislature  at  its  first  session  after  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  shall  provide  for  the  organization  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  and  for  transferring  to  it  the  business  pending 
in  the  Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors,  and  for  the  allowance 
of  writs  of  error  and  appeals  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  from  the 
judgments  and  decrees  of  the  present  Court  of  Chancery  and 
Supreme  Court,  and  of  the  courts  that  may  be  organized  under 
this  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  Vn. 

Section  L  After  payhig  the  expenses  of  collection,  superin- 
tendence and  ordinary  repairs,  there  shall  be  appropriated  and 
set  apart  in  each  fiscal  year  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  State  ca- 
nals, commencing  on  the  first  day  of  June,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-six,  the  sum  of  one  million  and  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  until  the  first  day  of  June,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  fiftj^-five,  and  from  that  time  the  sum  of  one  mil- 
lion and  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  each  fiscal  year,  as  a 
sinking  fund,  to  pay  the  interest  and  redeem  the  principal  of  that 
part  of  the  State  debt  called  the  canal  debt,  as  it  existed  at  the 
time  first  aforesaid,  and  including  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars then  to  be  borrowed,  until  the  same  shall  be  wholly  paid; 
and  the  principal  and  income  of  the  said  sinking  fund  shall  be 
sacredly  applied  to  that  purpose. 

Section  2.  After  complying  with  the  provisions  of  the  first  sec- 
tion of  this  article,  there  shall  be  appropriated  and  set  apart  out 
of  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  State  canals,  in  each  fiscal  year, 
commencing  on  the  first  day  of  June,  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  forty-six,  the  sum  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  until  the  time  when  a  suflicient  sum  shall  have  been  ap- 
propriated and  set  apart,  under  the  said  first  section,  to  pay  the 
interest  and  extinguish  the  entire  principal  of  the  canal  debt"; 
and  after  that  period,  then  the  sum  of  one  million  and  five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  in  each  fiscal  year,  as  a  sinking  fund, 
to  pay  the  interest  and  redeem  the  principal  of  that  part  of  the 
State  debt  called  the  General  Fund  debt,  including  the  dei)t  for 
loans  of  the  State  credit  to  railroad  companies  which  have  failed 
to  pay  the  interest  thereon,  and  also, the  contingent  debt  on  State 
stocks  loaned  to  incorporated  companies  which  have  hitherto 
paid   the  interest  thereon,  whenever  and    a?  far  as  any  part 


128 


CONSTITUTIOJf    OF 


thereof  may  become  a  charge  on  tiie  Treasury  or  General  Kinid, 
until  the  same  shall  be  wholly  paid  ;  and  the  principal  and  in- 
come of  the  said  last  mentioned  sinking  fnnd  shall  be  sacredly 
applied  to  the  purpose  aforesaid  ;  and  if  the  payment  of  any  part 
of  the  moneys  to  the  said  sinking  fund  shall  at  any  time  be  de- 
ferred, by  reason  of  the  priority  recognized  in  the  first  section  of 
this  article,  the  sum  so  deferred,  with  quarterly  interest  thereon, 
at  the  then  current  rate,  shall  be  paid  to  the  last  mentioned  sink- 
ing fund,  as  soon  as  it  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  jast 
rights  of  the  creditors  holding  said  canal  debt. 

Section  3.  After  paying  the  said  expenses  of  superintendence 
and  repairs  of  the  canals,  and  the  sums  appropriated  by  the  first 
and  second  sections  of  this  article,  there  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
surplus  revenues  of  the  canals,  to  the  Treasury  of  the  State,  on 
or  before  the  thirtieth  day  of  September,  in  each  year,  for  the  use 
and  benefit  of  the  General  Fund,  such  sum,  not  exceeding  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  as  may  be  required  to  defray  the  ne- 
cessary expenses  of  the  State  ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  revenues 
of  the  said  canals  shall,  in  each  fiscal  year,  be  applied,  in  such 
manner  as  the  Legislature  shall  direct,  to  the  completion  of  the 
Erie  Canal  Enlargement,  and  the  Genesee  Valley  and  Black  River 
Canals,  until  the  said  canals  shall  be  completed. 

If  at  any  time  after  the  period  of  eight  years  from  the  adoption 
of  this  Constitution,  the  revenues  of  the  State,  unappropriated 
by  this  article,  shall  not  be  sufficient  to  defray  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  the  government,  without  continuing  or  laying  a  direct 
tax,  the  Legislature  may,  at  its  discretion,  supply  the  deficiency, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  from  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  canals, 
after  complying  with  the  provisions  of  the  first  two  sections  of 
this  article,  for  paying  the  interest  and  extinguishing  the  princi- 
pal of  the  Canal  and  General  Fund  debt;  but  the  sum  thus  ap- 
propriated from  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  canals  shall  not  ex- 
ceed annually  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  including 
the  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  provided  for  by  this 
section  for  the  expenses  of  the  government,  until  the  General 
Fund  debt  shall  be  extinguished,  or  until  the  Ejie  Canal  Enlarge- 
ment and  Genesee  Valley  and  Black  River  Canals  shall  be  com- 
pleted, and  after  that  debt  shall  be  paid,  or  the  said  canals  shall 
be  completed,  then  the  sum  of  six  hundred  and  seventy-two 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  or  so  much  thereof  as  shall  be 
necessary,  may  be  annually  appropriated  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  government. 

Section  4.  The  claims  of  the  State  against  any  incorporated 
company  to  pay  the  interest  and  redeem  the  principal  of  the 
stock  of  the  State  loaned  or  advanced  to  such  company,  shall 
be  fairly  enforced,  and  not  released  or  compromised ;  and  the 
moneys  arising  from  such  claims  shall  be  set  apart  and  applied 
as  part  of  the  sinking  fund  provided  in  the  second  section  of  this 
article.  But  the  time  limited  for  the  fulfilment  of  any  condition 
of  any  release  or  compromise  heretofore  made  or  provided  for, 
may  be  extended  by  law. 

Section  5.  If  the  sinking  fund.s  or  either  of  them,  provided  m 


STATE    OF    NEW    YOKK.  129 

this  article,  shall  prove  insufficient  to  enable  the  Stale,  on  the 
credit  of  such  fund,  to  procure  the  means  to  satisfy  the  claims 
of  the  creditors  of  the  State  as  they  become  payable,  the  Legisla- 
ture shall,  by  equitable  taxes,  so  increase  the  revenues  of  the 
said  funds  as  to  make  them,  respectively,  sufficient  perfectly  to 
preserve  the  public  faith.  Every  contribution  or  advance  to  the 
caHals,  or  their  debt,  from  any  source,  other  than  their  direct 
revenues,  shall,  with  quarterly  interest,  at  the  rates  then  current, 
be  repaid  into  the  Treasury,  for  the  use  of  the  State,  out  of  the 
canal  revenues  as  soon  as  it  can  be  done  consistently  with  the 
just  rights  of  the  creditors  holding  the  said  canal  debt. 

Section  6.  The  Legislature  shall  not  sell,  lease,  or  otherwise 
dispose  of  any  of  the  canals  of  the  State  ;  but  they  shall  remain 
the  property  of  the  State  and  under  its  management,  for  ever. 

Section  7.  The  Legislature  shall  never  sell  or  dispose  of  the 
salt  springs  belonging  to  this  State.  The  lands  contiguous 
thereto,  and  which  may  be  necessary  and  convenient  for  the  use 
of  the  salt  springs,  may  be  sold  by  authority  of  law  and  under 
the  directions  of  the  commissioners  of  the  land  office,  for  the 
purpose  of  investing  the  moneys  arising  therefrom  in  other  lands 
alike  convenient ;  but  by  such  sale  and  purchase  the  aggregate 
quantity  of  these  lands  shall  not  be  diminished. 

Section  8.  No  moneys  shall  ever  be  paid  out  of  the  Treasury 
of  this  State,  or  any  of  its  funds,  or  any  of  the  funds  under  its 
management,  except  in  pursuance  of  an  appropriation  by  law  ; 
nor  unless  such  payment  be  made  within  two  years  next  after 
the  passage  of  such  appropriation  act;  and  every  such  law, 
making  a  new  appropriation,  or  continuing  or  reviving  an  ap- 
propriation, shall  distinctly  specify  the  sum  appropriated,  and  the 
object  to  which  it  is  to  be  applied;  and  it  shall  not  be  sufficient 
for  such  law  to  refer  to  any  other  law  to  fix  such  sum. 

Section  9.  The  credit  of  the  State  shall  not,  in  any  manner,  be 
given  or  loaned  to,  or  in  aid  of,  any  individual  association  or 
corporation. 

Section  10.  The  State  may,  to  meet  casual  deficits  or  failures 
in  revenues,  or  for  expenses  not  provided  for,  contract  debts, 
but  such  debts,  direct  and  contingent,  singly  or  in  the  aggregate, 
shall  not  at  anytime,  exceed  one  million  of  dollars;  and  the 
moneys  arising  from  the  loans  creating  such  debts,  shall  be  ap- 
plied to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  obtained,  or  to  re- 
pay the  debt  so  contracted,  and  to  no  other  purpose  whatever. 

Section  11.  In  addition  to  the  above  limited  power  to  contract 
debts,  the  State  may  contract  debts  to  repel  invasion,  suppress  in- 
surrection, or  defend  the  State  in  War;  but  the  money  arising 
from  the  contracting  of  such  debts  shall  be  applied  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  raised,  or  to  repay  such  debts,  and  to  no 
other  purpose  whatever. 

Section  12.  Except  the  debts  specified  in  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  sections  of  this  article,  no  debt  shall  be  hereafter  con- 
tracted by  or  on  behalf  of  this  State,  unless  such  debt  shall  be 
authorized  by  a  law,  for  some  single  work  or  object,  to  be  dis- 
tinctly specified  therein  ;  and  such  law  shall  impose  aad  provide 


130  coNsriiarioN  of 

for  the  collection  of  a  direct  annual  tax  to  pay,  and  sulficieut  to 
pay  the  interest  on  such  debt  as  it  falls  due,  and  also  to  pay  and 
discharge  the  principle  of  such  debt  within  eighteen  years  from 
the  time  of  the  contracting  thereof. 

No  such  law  shall  take  effect  until  it  shall,  at  a  general  elec- 
tion, have  been  submitted  to  the  people,  and  have  received  a 
majority  of  all  the  votes  east  for  and  against  it,  at  such  election. 

On  the  final  passage  of  such  bill  in  either  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature, the  question  shall  be  taken  by  ayes  and  noes,  to  be  duly 
entered  on  the  journals  thereof,  and  shall  be  :  "  tShall  this  bill 
pass,  and  ought  the  same  to  receive  the  sanction  of  the  people.'" 

The  Legislature  may  at  any  time,  after  the  approval  of  such 
law  by  the  people,  if  no  debt  shall  have  been  contracted  in  pur- 
suance thereof,  repeal  the  same ;  and  may  at  any  time,  by  law, 
forbid  the  contracting  of  any  fiu-''her  debt  or  liability  under  such 
law;  but  the  tax  imposed  by  such  act,  in  proportion  to  the 
debt  and  liability  which  may  have  been  contracted,  in  pursuance 
of  such  law,  shall  remain  in  force  and  be  irrepealable,  and  be 
annually  collected,  until  the  proceeds  thereof  shall  have  made 
the  provision  herein  before  specified  to  pa}'  and  discharge  the 
interest  and  principal  of  such  debt  and  liability. 

The  money  arising  from  any  loan  or  stock  creating  such  debt 
or  liability,  shall  be  ai5])lied  to  the  work  or  object  specified  in  the 
act  authorizing  snch  debt  or  liability,  or  for  the  repayment  of 
such  debt  or  liability,  and  for  no  other  purpose  whatever. 

No  such  law  shall  be  submitted  to  be  voted  on  within  three 
months  after  its  passage,  or  at  any  general  election,  when  any 
other  law,  or  any  bill,  or  any  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
shall  be  submitted  to  be  voted  for  or  against. 

Section  13.  Every  law  which  imposes,  continues  or  revives  a 
tctx,  shall  distinctly  state  the  tax  and  the  object  to  which  it  is  to 
•  be  applied  ;  and  it  shall  not  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  any  other  law 
to  fix  such  tax  or  object. 

Section  14.  On  the  final  passage,  i^i  either  house  of  the  Legis- 
lature, of  every  act  which  imposes,  continues,  revives  a  ta.x,  or 
creates  a  debt  or  charge,  or  makes,  continues,  or  revives  any  ap- 
propriation of  public  or  trust-money  or  pro})erty,  or  releases,  dis- 
charges, or  commutes  any  claim  or  demand  of  the  State,  the 
question  shall  be  taken  by  ayes  and  noes,  which  shall  be  duly 
entered  on  the  journals,  and  three-fifths  of  all  the  members 
elected  to  either  house,  shall,  in  all  such  cases,  be  necessary  to 
constitute  a  quorum  therein. 

ARTICLE  VIIL 

Section  1.  Corporations  maybe  formed  under  general  laws; 
but  shall  not  be  created  by  s])ecial  act,  except  for  municipal 
purposes,  and  in  case  where,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, the  objects  of  the  corporation  cannot  be  attained  under 
general  laws.  All  general  laws  and  special  acts  passed  pursu- 
ant to  this  section,  may  be  altered  from  time  to  time  or  repealed. 

Section  2.  Dues  fronr  corporations  shall  be  secured  by  snch  in- 


THE    STATli    OV    NEW    YOUK.  131 

dividual  liability  of  the  corporators  and  other  means  as  may  be 
prescribed  by  la^^'. 

Section  3.  The  term  corporations,  as  used  in  this  article,  shall 
be  construed  to  include  all  associations  and  joint-stock  com- 
panies having  any  of  the  powers  or  privileges  of  corporations 
not  possessed  by  individuals  or  partnerships.  And  all  corpora- 
tions shall  have  the  right  to  such  ai*il  shall  be  subject  to  be  sued 
in  all  courts  in  like  cases  as  natural  persons. 

Section  4.  The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  pass  any 
act  granting  any  special  charter  for  banking  purposes  ;  but  cor- 
porations or  associations  may  be  formed  for  such  purposes  un- 
der general  laws. 

Section  5.  The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  pass  any 
law  sanctioning  in  any  manner,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  suspen- 
sion of  specie  payments,  by  any  person,  association,  or  corpora- 
tion issuing  bank  notes  of  any  description. 

Section  6.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  by  law  for  the  regis- 
try of  all  bills  or  notes,  issued  or  put  in  circulation  as  money, 
and  shall  require  ample  security  for  the  redemption  of  the  same 
in  specie. 

Section  7.  Th-e  stockholders  in  every  corporation  and  joint- 
stock  association  for  banki-ng  purposes,  issuing  bank  notes  or 
any  kind  of  paper  credits  to  circulate  as  money,  after  the  first 
day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty,  shall  be 
individually  responsible  to  the  amount  of  their  respective  share 
or  shares  of  stock  in  any  such  corporation  or  association,  for  all 
its  debts  and  liabilities  of  every  kind,  contracted  after  the  said 
first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty. 

Section  8.  In  case  of  the  insolvency  of  any  bank  or  banking 
association,  the  bill-holders  thereof  shall  be  entitled  to  preference 
ill  payment,  over  all  other  creditors  of  such  bank  or  association. 

Section  9.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  provide  for 
the  organization  of  cities  and  incorporated  villages,  and  to  re- 
strict their  power  of  taxation,  assessment,  borrowing  money, 
contracting  ^lebts,  and  loaning  their  credit,  so  as  to  prevent 
abuses  in  assessments,  and  in  contracting  debt  by  such  munici- 
pal corporations. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

Section  1.  The  capital  of  the  Common  School  Fund  ;  the  capital 
of  the  Literature  Fund,  and  the  capital  of  the  United  States  De- 
posit Fund,  shall  be  respectively  preserved  inviolate.  The 
revenue  of  the  said  Common  School  Fund  shall  be  applied  to 
the  support  of  common  schools;  the  revenues  of  the  said  Lite- 
rature Fund  shall  be  applied  to  the  support  of  academies,  and 
the  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  the  revenues  of  the 
United  States  Deposit  Fund  shall  each  year  be  appropriated  to 
and  made  a  part  of  the  capital  of  the  said  Common  School 
Fund. 

ARTICLE  X. 

Section  l'.  Sheriffs,  clerks  of  counties,  including  the  register 
and  clerk  of  the  city  and  county  of  New- York,  coroners,  and 


132  CONSTITUTION    OF 

district  attorneys,  siiall  be  chosen,  by  the  electors  of  the  respec- 
tive counties,  once  in  every  three  years  and  as  often  as  vacan- 
cies shall  happen.  Sheriffs  shall  hold  no  other  office,  and  be 
inehgible  for  the  next  three  years  after  the  termination  of  their 
offices.  They  may  be  required  by  lavv',  to  renew  their  security, 
from  time  to  time  ;  and  in  default  of  giving  such  new  security, 
their  offices  shall  be  deemed(*'acant.  But  the  county  shall  never 
be  made  responsible  for  the  acts  of  the  sheriff. 

The  Governor  may  remove  any  officer,  in  this  section  men- 
tioned, within  the  term  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected  ; 
giving  to  such  officer  a  copy  of  the  charges  against  him,  and  an 
opportunity  of  being  heard  in  his  defence. 

Section  2.  All  county  officers  whose  election  or  appointment 
is  not  provided  for  by  this  Constitution,  shall  be  elected  by  the 
electors  of  the  respective  counties,  or  appointed  by  the  boards 
of  supervisors,  or  other  county  authorities,  as  the  Legislature 
shall  direct.  All  city,  town,  and  village  officers,  whose  election, 
or  appointment  is  not  provided  lOr  by  this  Constitution,  shall  be 
elected  by  the  electors  of  such  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  or  of 
some  division  thereof,  or  appointed  by  such  authorities  therefor 
as  the  Legislature  shall  designate  for  that  purpose.  All  other 
officers  whose  election  or  appointment  is  not  provided  for  by 
this  Constitution,  and  all  officers  whose  offices  may  hereafter  be 
created  by  law,  shall  be  elected  by  the  people,  or  appointed,  as 
the  Legislature  may  direct. 

'  Section  3.  When  the  duration  of  any  office,  is  not  provided 
by  this  Constitution,  it  may  be  declared,  by  law,  and  if  not  so 
declared,  such  office  shall  be  held  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
authority  making  the  appointment. 

Section  4.  The  time  of  electing  all  officers  named  in  this  arti- 
cle shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Section  5.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  for  filling  vacancies 
in  offices,  and  in  case  of  elective  officers,  no  person  appointed  to 
fill  a  vacancy  shall  hold  his  office  by  virtue  of  such  appointment 
longer  than  the  commencement  of  the  political  year  next  suc- 
ceeding the  first  annual  election  after  the  happening  of  the 
vacancy. 

Section  6.  The  political  year  and  legislative  term  shall  begin 
on  the  first  day  of  January  ;  and  the  Legislature  shall  every 
year  assemble  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  January,  unless  a  different 
day  shall  be  appointed  by  law. 

Section  7.  Provision  .shall  be  made  by  law  for  the  removal  for 
misconduct  or  malversation  in  office  of  all  officers  (except  judi- 
cial) whose  powers  and  duties  are  not  local  or  legislative,  and 
who  shall  be  elected  at  general  elections,  and  also  for  supplying 
vacancies  created  by  such  removal. 

Section  8.  The  Legislature  may  declare  the  cases  in  which 
any  office  shall  be  deemed  vacant,  where  no  provision  is  made 
for  that  purpose  in  this  Constitution. 

ARTICLE  XL 
Section  1.  The  militia  of  this  State,  shall  at  all  times  hereaftfir, 


THE    STATE    OF    NEW    YORK.  133 

be  armed  and  disciplined,  and  in  readiness  for  service;  but  all 
such  inhabitants  of  this  State  of  any  religions  denomination 
whatever  as  from  scruples  of  conscience  may  be  averse  to  bear- 
ing arms,  shall  be  excused  therefrom,  upon  such  conditions  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Section  2.  Militia  officers  shall  be  chosen,  or  appointed,  as  fol- 
lows : — captains,  subalterns,  and  non-commissioned  officers  shall 
be  chosen  by  the  written  votes  of  the  members  of  their  respective 
companies.  Field  officers  of  regiments  and  separate  battalions, 
by  the  written  votes  of  the  commissioned  oflicers  of  the  respec- 
tive regiments  and  separate  battalions;  brigadier-generals  and 
brigade  inspectors  by  the  field  officers  of  their  respective  bri- 
gades ;  major-generals,  brigadier-generals,  and  commanding  offi- 
cers of  regiments  or  separate  battalions,  shall  appoint  the  stafT 
officers  to  their  respective  divisions,  brigades,  regiments,  or  sepa- 
rate battalions. 

Section  3.  The  Governor  shall  nominate,  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  Senate,  appoint  all  major-generals,  and  the  commissary- 
general.  The  adjutant-general  and  other  chiefs  of  staff  depart- 
ments, and  the  aids-de-camp  of  the  commander-in-chief  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  and  their  commissions  shall  expire 
with  the  time  for  which  the  Governor  shall  have  been  elected. 
The  commissary-general  shall  hold  his  office  for  two  years.  He 
shall  give  security  for  the  faithful  execution  of  the  duties  of  his 
office,  in  such  manner  and  amount  as  shall  be  prescribed  bylaw. 

Section  4.  The  Legislature  shall,  by  law,  direct  the  time  and 
manner  of  electing  militia  officers,  and  of  certifying  their  elec- 
tions to  the  Governor. 

Section  5.  The  commissioned  officers  of  the  militia  shall  be 
commissioned  by  the  Governor;  and  no  commissioned  officer 
shall  be  removed  from  office,  unless  by  the  Senate  on  the  re- 
commendation of  the  Governor,  stating  the  grounds  on  which 
such  removal  is  recommended,  or  by  the  decision  of  a  court 
martial,  pursuant  to  law.  The  present  officers  of  the  militia  shall 
hold  their  commissions  subject  to  removal,  as  before  provided. 

Section  Q.  In  case  the  mode  of  election  and  appointment  of 
militia  officers  hereby  directed,  shall  not  be  found  conducive  to 
the  improvement  of  the  militia,  the  Legislature  may  abolish  the 
same,  and  provide  by  law  for  their  appointment  and  removal, 
if  two-thirds  of  the  members  present  in  each  house  shall  concur 
therein. 

ARTICLE  XIL 

Section  1.  Members  of  the  Legislature,  and  all  officers,  execu- 
tive and  judicial,  except  such  inferior  officers  as  may  be  by  law 
exempted,  shall,  before  they  enter  on  the  duties  of  their  respec- 
tive offices,take  and  subscribe  the  following  oath  or  affirmation : — 

"  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm,  as  the  case  may  be)  that  I 
will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  of  New-York  ;  and  that  I  will  faithfiilly 
discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  of  according 

to  the  best  of  my  ability." 


134  CONSTITUTION    Ol" 

And  uo  Other  oath,  deolaratlon,  or  test  shall  be  required  as  a 
quaUfication  for  any  office  or  public  trust. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

Sectiou  1.  Any  amendment  or  amendments  to  this  Constitu- 
tion may  be  proposed  in  tlie  Senate  and  Assembly  ;  and  if  the 
same  shall  be  agreed  to  by  a  majority  of  the  members  elected 
to  each  of  the  two  houses,  such  proposed  amendment  or  amend- 
ments shall  be  entered  on  their  journals  with  the  yeas  and  nays 
taken  thereon,  and  referred  to  the  Legislature  to  be  chosen  at 
the  next  general  election  of  Senators,  and  shall  be  published  for 
three  months  previous  to  the  time  of  making  such  choice,  and 
if  in  the  Legislature  so  next  chosen,  aforesaid,  such  proposed 
amendment  or  amendments  shall  be  agreed  to  by  a  majority  of 
all  the  members  elected  to  each  house,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Legislature  to  submit  such  proposed  amendment  or 
amendments  to  the  people,  in  such  manner  and  at  such  time  as 
the  Legislature  shall  prescribe  ;  and  if  the  people  shaU  approve 
and  ratify  such  amendment  or  amendments,  by  a  majority  of  the 
electors  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  Legislature,  voting 
thereon,  such  amendment  or  amendments  shall  become  part  of 
the  Constitution. 

Section  2.  At  the  general  election  to  be  held  in  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-six,  and  in  each  twentieth  year 
thereafter,  and  also  at  such  time  as  the  Legislature  may  by  law 
provide,  the  question,  "  Shall  there  be  a  Convention  to  revise  the 
Constitution,  and  amend  the  same  .'"  shall  be  decided  by  the 
electors  qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  Legislature  ;  and  in 
case  a  majority  of  the  electors  so  qualified,  voting  at  such  elec- 
tion, shall  decide  in  favor  of  a  Convention  for  such  purpose,  the 
Legislature  at  its  next  session,  shall  provide  by  law  for  the  elec- 
tion of  delegates  to  such  Convention. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

Sectiou  L  The  first  election  of  Senators  and  Members  of  As- 
sembly, pursuant  to  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be 
held  on  the  Tuesday  succeeding  the  first  Monday  of  November, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven. 

The  Senators  and  members  of  Assembly  who  may  be  in  office 
on  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-seven,  shall  hold  their  oflices  until  and  including  the  thirty- 
first  day  of  December  following,  and  no  longer. 

Section  2.  The  first  election  of  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Go- 
vernor under  this  Constitution,  shall  he  held  on  the  Tuesday  suc- 
ceeding the  first  JMonday  of  November,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-eight;  and  the  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Go- 
vernor in  office  when  this  Constitution  shall  take  effect,  shall 
hold  their  respective  oflices  until  and  including  the  thirty-first 
day  of  December  of  that  year. 

Section  3.  The  Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller,  Treasurer,  At- 
torney-General, District-Attorney,  Surveyor-General,  Canal  Com- 
missioners, and  Inspectors  of  State  Prisons  in  office  when  this 


THK    STATF.    OF    NEW    YOTJC.  135 

Constitution  shall  take  effect,  shall  hold  their  lespective  ofTices 
until  and  including  the  thiriy-first  day  of  December,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and  no  longer. 

Section  4.  The  first  election  of  judges  and  clerk  of  the  court 
of  appeals,  justices  of  the  supreme  court,  and  county  judges, 
shall  take  place  at  such  time  between  the  first  Tuesday  of 
April  and  the  second  Tuesday  of  June,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-seven,  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  The 
said  courts  shall  respectively  enter  upon  their  duties,  on  the 
first  Monday  of  July  next  thereafter ;  but  the  term  of  office  of 
said  judges,  clerk,  and  justices,  as  declared  by  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  deemed  to  commence  on  the  first  day  of  January,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight. 

Section  5.  On  the  first  Monday  of  July,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-seven,  jurisdiction  of  all  suits  and  proceed- 
ings then  pending  in  the  present  supreme  court  and  court  of 
chancery,  and  all  suits  and  proceedings  originally  commenced 
and  then  pending  in  any  court  of.  common  pleas  (except  in  the 
city  and  county  of  New  York),  shall  become  vested  in  the  su- 
preme court  hereby  established,  rroceedings  pending  in  courts 
of  common  pleas  and  in  suits  originally  commenced  in  justice.s' 
courts,  shall  be  transferred  to  the  county  courts  provided  for  in 
this  Constitution,  in  such  manner  and  form  and  under  sucir 
regulations  as  shall  be  provided  by  law.  The  courts  of  oyer  and 
terminer  liereby  established  shall,  in  their  respective  counties, 
have  jurisdiction,  on  and  after  the  day  last  mentioned,  of  all  in- 
dictments and  proceedings  then  pending  in  the  present  courts  of 
oyer  and  terminer,  and  also  of  all  indictments  and  proceedings 
then  pending  in  the  present  courts  of  general  sessions  of  the 
peace,  except  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  except  in  cases  of 
which  the  courts  of  sessions  hereby  established  may  lawfully 
take  cognizance  ;  and  of  such  indictments  and  proceedings  as 
the  courts  of  sessions  hereby  established  shall  have  jurisdiction 
on  and  after  tlie  day  last  mentioned. 

Section  6.  The  Chancellor  and  the  present  supreme  court 
shall,  respectively,  have  power  to  hear  and  determine  any  of 
such  suits  and  proceedings  ready  on  the  first  Monday  of  July, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  for  hearing  or  de- 
cision, and  shall,  for  their  services  therein,  be  entitled  to  their 
present  rates  of  compensation  until  the  first  day  of  July,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight,  or  until  all  such  suits 
and  proceedings  shall  be  sooner  heard  and  determined.  Masters 
in  chancery  may  continue  to  exercise  the  functions  of  their  of- 
fice in  the  court  of  chancery,  so  long  as  the  Chancellor  shall 
continue  to  exercise  the  functions  of  his  office  under  the  provi- 
sions of  this  Constitution. 

And  the  Supreme  Court  hereby  established  shall  also  have 
power  to  hear  and  determine  such  of  said  suits  and  procecding.s 
as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Section  7.  In  case  any  vacancy  shall  occur  in  the  oflice  of 
chancellor  or  justice  of  the  present  Supreme  Court,  previously 
to  the  first  dav  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 


136   CONSTITUTION  OF  T«E  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

eight,  the  Governor  may  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  appoint  a-  proper  person  to  fill  such 
vacancy.  Any  judge  of  the  court  of  appeals  or  justice  of  the 
supreme  court,  elected  under  this  Constitution,  may  receive  and 
hold  such  appointment. 

Section  8.  The  offices  of  chancellor,  justice  of  the  existing 
supreme  court,  circuit  judge,  vice-chancellor,  assistant  vice-chan- 
cellor, judge  of  the  existing  county  courts  of  each  county,  su- 
preme court  commissioner,  master  in  chancery,  examiner  in 
chancery,  and  surrogate  (except  as  herein  otherwise  provided), 
are  abolished  from  and  after  the  first  Monday  of  July,  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty-seven  (1847). 

Section  9.  The  Chancellor,  the  justices  of  the  present  supreme 
court,  and  the  circuit  judges,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  severally 
eligible  to  any  office  at  the  first  election  under  this  Constitution. 

Section  10.  Sheriffs,  clerks  of  counties  (including  the  register 
and  clerk  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York),  and  justices  of 
the  peace,  and  coroners,  in  office  when  this  Constitution  shall 
take  effect,  shall  hold  their  respective  offices  until  the  expiration 
of  the  term  for  which  they  were  respectively  elected. 

Section  11.  Judicial  officers  in  office  when  this  Constitution 
shall  take  effect,  may  continue  to  receive  such  fees  and  perqui- 
sites of  office  as  are  now  authorized  by  law,  until  the  first  day  of 
July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  notwithstand- 
ing the  provisions  of  the  twentieth  section  of  the  sixth  article  of 
this  Constitution. 

Section  12.  All  local  courts  establi.shed  in  any  city  or  village, 
including  the  superior  court,  common  pleas,  sessions,  and  sur- 
rogate's courts  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  shall  remain, 
luitil  otherwise  directed  by  the  Legislature,  with  their  present 
powers  and  jurisdictions;  and  the  judges  of  such  courts  and 
any  clerks  thereof  in  office  on  the  first  day  of  January%  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  .shall  continue  in  office  un- 
til the  expiration  of  their  terms  of  office,  or  until  the  Legislature 
shall  otherwise  direct. 

Section  13.  This  Constitution  shall  he  in  force  from  and  in- 
cluding the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  forty-seven,  except  as  is  herein  otherwise  provided. 
Done  in  Convention,  at  the  Capitol,  in  the  City  of  Albany,  the 

ninth  day  of  October  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 

and  forty-six,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  ITiiited  States  of 

America  the  seventy-first. 
In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 

JOHN  TRACY,  President, 
and  delegate  from  the  County  of  Chenango. 
James  F.  Starbvck,    ) 
H.  W.  Strono,  [  Secretaries. 

Fr.  Seger,  ) 


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